Top Gear crash left me with crippling anxiety unable to leave room – I didn’t go out for 8 months, says Freddie Flintoff
FREDDIE FLINTOFF has revealed he refused to leave the house for eight months after his horror Top Gear crash.
But the cricket legend found the confidence to return to public life after being playfully teased by pals over his appearance.
Flintoff, 47, was involved in a terrifying high-speed car smash while filming for an episode of Top Gear in December 2022.
The fan favourite was airlifted to hospital and ended up suffering life-changing injuries.
Flintoff remained out of the public eye for months before returning as a cricket coach.
Now, he has relived the horror of his ordeal as part of a new Disney+ documentary.
And Flintoff also made an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show to talk about his recovery.
The ace admitted that the mental scars were as difficult to deal with as the physical ones.
And as a result, Flintoff did not leave his house for more than half a year.
He said: “It’s no secret that I had a car accident filming Top Gear.
BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS
“Afterwards, obviously there’s the physical scars that I’ve got. But then the mental side of it.
“I didn’t leave the house for probably six or eight months. The only time I was leaving the house was for medical appointments and surgeries.
“A mate of mine started inviting me to come and watch the cricket, Test matches, but sit in a back room, not in the crowd.
“I was wearing a full face mask for months. I started getting back into it and started to find my feet a little bit.
“Since the accident, I had the flashbacks, the nightmares and things…”
Flintoff bravely and candidly opened up on the difficulty he had in doing what were once very basic and regular actions.
He added: “I was struggling with crippling anxiety. I had to have about five or six goes at leaving the room. Had to have a chat with myself in the mirror.
“I think because I’d not done anything for such a long time. I’d not shown myself without a face mask to anyone.
“It was like starting again.”
But Flintoff admits it was the kind-natured banter of his pals that allowed him to return to normality.
Revealing how one made a joke about his appearance, added: “I’d not left the house for a while, gone down to London to go to the office.
“One of my mates was there, I had a bucket hat, glasses and a mask and he said, ‘F*** me, it’s the invisible man.’
“It’s always better when that starts happening. Back to normal.”
Flintoff made his name in cricket and was one of the key heroes of England’s famous 2005 Ashes series win over Australia.
The all-rounder represented his country in 79 Tests between 1998 and 2009, racking up 3,845 runs and 226 wickets.
The Lancashire legend then moved into the media, initially on A League Of Their Own before winning Australia’s version of I’m A Celebrity and launching a BBC podcast with Robbie Savage and Matthew Syed.
He joined Top Gear in 2019 alongside co-hosts Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris and had an initial 124mph crash in September of that year – but escaped unhurt – before the serious and shocking ordeal at Dunsfold Park Aerodrome three years later.
The cricket hero – supported through the ordeal by wife Rachael – returned to the public eye in summer 2023 when he started coaching with the England set-up then presented Bullseye.
The terrifying crash happened when Flintoff was driving an open-topped Morgan Super 3, which flipped during the stunt.
He suffered broken ribs and serious facial injuries in the smash.
In the first images made available of the incident in the trailer for the 90-minute documentary to be released on April 25, the blue vehicle is shown in the grass off the track, with skidmarks on the tarmac.
Reliving the accident, Flintoff said: “I remember everything about it. It’s so vivid.
“This is what I’m left with… I wouldn’t say I’m embracing them but I’m not trying to hide my scars.”
- THE JONATHAN ROSS SHOW, SATURDAY AT 10:20PM ON ITV1, ITVX, STV AND STV PLAYER