Freddie Flintoff has opened up about the car crash that left him with life-changing injuries back in 2022, revealing that he didn’t know if he could “carry on” after the accident
14:57, 29 Aug 2025Updated 14:57, 29 Aug 2025
Freddie Flintoff sustained horrific injuries in a car crash while he filmed Top Gear in 2022(Image: BBC)
Cricket legend Freddie Flintoff was left so scarred by his Top Gear Crash that he did not know if he had the strength to keep going. The former England skipper makes the emotional admission to a teenage girl in the new series of Field of Dreams.
During the show, Freddie, 47, who sets up his first-ever girls team in Blackpool, Lancs, is asked how the 2022 crash changed his life. The dad-of-four was seriously hurt when his open-top Morgan Super 3 veered off the track at the Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, flipping over and dragging him face-down for 160ft.
Freddie was airlifted to St George’s Hospital in Tooting, South London, with extensive facial injuries and broken ribs. He had a number of operations on his face and barely left home for seven months, apart from to attend hospital appointments.
Freddie Flintoff has opened up about how he struggled after his 2022 car crash(Image: PA)
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When asked about the terrifying experience, he says: “It was, what – 18 months ago? I’ve suffered with things like depression in the past before, but this time was different.
“I didn’t know if I had it in me to carry on… not that I wanted to die or anything like that, I just didn’t know if I had it in me, and that took a while.”
In Field of Dreams: Ultimate Test, which starts on BBC One on September 7, the 2005 Ashes hero will also take on boys teams in Manchester and Liverpool. The second series, Field of Dreams on Tour, saw Freddie, whose real name is Andrew, coach an unlikely cricket team from Preston to tour India.
The 2024 series marked Freddie’s return to TV and in it, he revealed the impact of the crash. He said: “As much as I want to go out and do things, I’ve just not been able to. I struggle with anxiety.
“I have nightmares and flashbacks. It’s been so hard to cope.”
When one lad asked if he was back at 100%, Freddie said: “Not really. I’m not sure I ever will again, to be honest. I’m better than I was.”
Freddie retired from all forms of professional cricket in September 2010 due to a recurring knee injury. He made a name for himself in broadcasting – becoming a captain on Sky One sports panel show A League of Their Own that same year. He also appeared in the Aussie version of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
In 2019, he became a presenter on BBC’s Top Gear alongside Chris Harris and Paddy McGuinness. The BBC decided to rest the show in 2023.
In April, a Disney + biographical film, Flintoff, took an “intimate and unprecedented” at Freddie’s life. The star, now coaching the England Lions development side, is one of England’s finest all-rounders, with 3,845 runs and 226 wickets in 79 Tests.
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