Freddie Flintoff reveals it ‘took him a long time to accept himself’ after horrific Top Gear crash

Freddie Flintoff has opened up about the car crash that resulted in intense facial reconstruction, revealing the ordeal it took on him mentally.

The former cricketer, 47, appeared on the third BBC series of Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff’s Field of Dreams series, which sees him attempt to put together a girls’ cricket team in Liverpool.

While on the show, the TV personality spoke about his life-changing injuries and scars after a near-fatal crash while filming on a Top Gear test track.

The sportsman suffered severe facial and rib injuries following the crash at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, in December 2022.

In the first episode of the new series, Freddie was asked by a teenager who was invited to be part of his first team of girls in Blackpool, asked him: ‘How hard was it to leave your house again?’ following the crash.

Freddie said in response: ‘It was, what – 18 months ago? And you know, 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.’

He then spoke about how it took him a long time to get back to a place where he felt like himself or the person he wanted to be.

‘The one thing, I think, getting quite deep here, but the one thing you just want to be is happy in yourself, and try and be accepting of yourself, of what you are.

‘It took me a long time to be like that, and then the crash put me back again, and now it’s like finding myself or finding the person I want to be.’

In a Disney+ documentary about him that was released earlier in the year, he revealed the extent of his injuries, admitting he wished he had died at points in his recovery.

‘After the accident, I didn’t think I had it in me to get through. This sounds awful… part of me wishes I’d been killed. Part of me thinks, I wish I’d died.

‘I didn’t want to kill myself… I wouldn’t mistake the two things.

‘I was not wishing, I was just thinking, “this would have been so much easier”.

‘Now I try to take the attitude that the sun will come up tomorrow and my kids will still give me a hug. I’m probably in a better place now.’

He underwent an initial five-hour surgery after he suffered from injuries involving hard tissue and soft tissue, broken and lost teeth, and elements of his upper jaw bone being fractured and displaced.

After the incident took place, the BBC made the decision to ‘rest’ Top Gear. They also reached a financial settlement with Freddie, reportedly an agreement worth around £9million.

Freddie Flintoff’s Field Of Dreams: Ultimate Test will launch on BBC One and iPlayer on Sunday, September 7.

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