Top Gear could be ‘reined in’ by the BBC to dial down stunts if the show returns after a crash which caused presenter Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff to quit.
The show’s high-speed and high adrenaline stunts face being tamed after Flintoff, 45, left his role as co-host following an accident while filming at a test track on December 13 last year.
Filming has since been stopped, and the BBC are now considering if the show will continue this year amid a health and safety review.
Reports suggested the former cricketer was ‘lucky to be alive’ after the car he was driving – an open-topped three-wheel 130mph Morgan Super 3 which doesn’t have air bags – flipped over at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey.
He was airlifted to hospital with facial injuries and broken ribs.
Filming on the series was suspended while Flintoff, who presents the show alongside Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris, recovered from his injuries and investigations took place.
The show’s high-speed and high adrenaline stunts face being tamed after Flintoff (pictured) left his role as co-host following an accident while filming at a test track on December 13 last year
Filming on the series was suspended while Flintoff (left) who presents the show alongside Paddy McGuinness (right) and Chris Harris (centre) recovered from his injuries
Reports suggested said the father-of-four had decided to leave the programme before the BBC confirmed it was halting filming of the next series, which had been set for release in the autumn.
After the incident his 16-year-old son Corey told MailOnline: ‘He’s OK. I’m not too sure what happened but he is lucky to be alive. It was a pretty nasty crash. It is shocking. We are all shocked but just hope he’s going to be OK.’
The incident was said to have left the cast and crew ‘reeling from the shock’, with concerns over the future of the show which has had a history of serious crashes.
It’s not the first time a presenter of the show has been injured during filming. In 2006, former co-host Richard Hammond, 53, spent two weeks in a coma after crashing in a jet-propelled car, in which he hoped to break the British land speed record, at over 300mph.
He was left with life-changing side effects, including post-traumatic amnesia – and now fears his worsening memory could be dementia caused by the crash.
According to the Times, the BBC may now seek to ‘rein in’ the show and dial down the high-speed stunts it has become known for.
It previously emerged that Flintoff did not tell his family (pictured) about stunts he was part of in the show, as he didn’t want them to worry
Flintoff was driving a three-wheeled open-topped Morgan Super 3 car (pictured) when it flipped over
The TV presenter, pictured here on a motorised trike during filming for a previous series of the show, is said to be ‘determined’ to return to screens at some point
‘The programme has had a couple of incidents in its history and we might need to look a bit harder at whether we are getting the balance right,’ a source told the newspaper.
It comes after it emerged that Flintoff did not tell his family about stunts he was part of in the show, as he didn’t want them to worry.
In an interview Flintoff gave while on the show, he revealed that he kept his stunts a secret from his family until they had aired.
‘Sometimes you don’t want to tell the family, you don’t went them going about their day thinking: ‘Oh is he alright?”, he said.
According to the Mirror, co-host Paddy added: ‘In ours, they see it when it’s on the telly. When you’re doing something like the wall of death, I think if you tell someone that, they’ll put something into your head about how dangerous it is and then you’re thinking about it’.
Earlier this week, the BBC confirmed it had apologised to the presenter, adding that it ‘will continue to support’ Flintoff ‘with his recovery’.
It also said: ‘Under the circumstances, we feel it would be inappropriate to resume making series 34 of Top Gear at this time.
‘We understand this will be disappointing for fans, but it is the right thing to do, and we’ll make a judgment about how best to continue later this year.
‘This has also impacted the production team, who we continue to support.
‘Finally there will be a health and safety review of the show, in line with our procedures.’
The smash came three years after the ex-cricketer narrowly cheated death following a 125mph crash.
In 2019, Flintoff was heard fearfully yelling ‘I can’t stop,’ as he hurtled head-first down a runway just inches off the ground in a three-wheeled cycle car.
He had been racing his co-hosts when he realised he was running out of road and about to overshoot the finish line – seeing him spin off in a cloud of dust.
Flintoff walked away from the ‘near-death’ crash unscathed, insisting he was ‘absolutely fine’.
Top Gear crashes through the years
Richard Hammond crashes a Vampire Dragster – 2006
Richard was left fighting for his life after crashing the jet-powered car while going at 288mph as he tested the vehicle at the former RAF Elvington airbase near York. Hammond was completing a seventh and final run in the car when the front-right tyre blew-out and the dragster veered off the runway, rolled over, and Hammond was left with a traumatic head injury and was in a coma for two weeks. In the year following the crash the TV presenter returned to the show and spoke about the crash on the Jonathan Ross Show, but couldn’t remember any of it because of his injuries.
Shocking: Richard was left fighting for his life after crashing the Vampire Dragster while going at 288mph as he tested the vehicle at the former RAF Elvington airbase
Freddie Flintoff crashes a jet trike – 2019
In September, Freddie revealed he suffered a nasty escape after a high speed crash in a jet trike during filming. The cricket star, 45, insisted he was ‘absolutely fine’ after his jet trike careered off the road during a race at the Elvington Airfield near York. Freddie reportedly careered his high speed trike off the road as he filmed the high-speed race. Crew members rushed to Freddie – who was wearing a full motorcycling suit and helmet for the scenes – but he emerged with barely a scratch.
Close call: In September last year, Freddie revealed he suffered a nasty escape after a high speed crash in a jet trike during filming
Paddy McGuinness’ back axle comes off his Pontiac Firebird – 2020
In the latest series of Top Gear, Paddy embarked on the ‘original’ American Road Trip with Freddie and Chris Harris. He arrived in their start point of Peru with a Pontiac Firebird which didn’t have a roof amongst several other problems. When the trio decided to test out their cars on a straight 1/4 mile stretch of road Paddy’s car only got a few yards before the back end of the axle came apart entirely and he was forced to abandon the car.
In the latest series of Top Gear, Paddy was forced to abandon his Pontiac Firebird after the back end of the axle came apart entirely (pictured)
Jeremy Clarkson flips over his Reliant Robin – 2010
In a now famous segment from Top Gear, former presenter Jeremy flipped over a Reliant Robin multiple times. The motorcar journalist was flipping it over to prove that the three-wheeled car could easily tip over. In his Sunday Times driving column Jeremy revealed that he had actually asked crew to tinker with the car ‘so that the poor little thing rolled over every time I turned the steering wheel’.
Flipping heck: In a now famous segment from Top Gear, former presenter Jeremy Clarkson flipped over a Reliant Robin multiple times (pictured)
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