Top Gear creator on why show will never return after Freddie Flintoff crash: ‘No one at the BBC will fight to bring it back’
Andy Wilman, who co-created the modern Top Gear fans know and love, reflected on the serious crashes both Richard Hammond and Freddie Flintoff suffered during their respective tenures as presenters on the hit BBC programme.
In an interview to promote his new book, Mr Wilman’s Motoring Adventure, Wilman highlighted the differences between the two incidents.
Hammond was seriously injured after crashing a jet-powered Vampire dragster while filming for the show in 2006.
He was in a coma for two weeks and suffered severe head injuries but later made a full physical recovery.
Flintoff’s crash in 2022 prompted the BBC to put Top Gear on permanent hiatus.
The presenter was taken to hospital after he suffered facial and rib injuries in a crash at the Top Gear test track at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey.
He has spoken out about psychological, emotional and physical effects of the life-altering crash.
Flintoff later reached a financial settlement with the BBC after losing out on earnings in the wake of the incident.
Now, in an interview with LADbible, Top Gear creator Wilman has said: “Richard’s crash was definitely like of an era and it was massively dramatic. It was like something out of a movie… but the mood around it is ‘He survived, he lives, he’s going to come in back.’ It’s pretty upbeat. It’s very like ‘He’s coming back.'”
In comparison, Wilman continued: “I think come the moment when Freddie’s crash [happened], how is it different? It’s a horrible crash. You know, the facial injuries for the poor man… and it lingers, he’s out of action. He’s out of the public eye. He’s off work.”
Freddie Flintoff. Dave Benett/Jed Cullen/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Disney+
While Wilman acknowledged the serious injuries and effects Hammond endured, he added: “Freddie’s is like, lingeringly horrible. It’s depressing and it’s a s**tty crash, a three-wheeler turning over on a rock, kind of semi-destroying his face.
“It knocks the stuffing out of the show and if it knocks the stuffing out of the show, which is now just another BBC show, it’ll knock the stuffing out of the show full stop.
“Because I don’t think there’s anybody in the BBC who goes, ‘Right, we’ve got to fight for Top Gear to come back.'”
Asked if he thought Top Gear would ever return to screens, Wilman said: “I don’t think it will.”
He added of the BBC: “I don’t think there’s anybody sitting in programme planning going, ‘How do we get Top Gear back on air?’ Nobody’s doing that.”
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