Top Gear presenter claims he told BBC ‘somebody would die’ before Flintoff crash

Andrew Flintoff, Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris, who have hosted Top Gear together since 2019
Andrew Flintoff, Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris hosted Top Gear from 2019 until the show's suspension following the crash - BBC/PA

The Top Gear presenter Chris Harris has claimed that he warned the BBC “someone would die” on set before Andrew Flintoff’s life-threatening crash.

The racing driver and TV presenter, 49, said that he thought his co-star had been killed during the December 2022 accident at the show’s test track.

Speaking on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, he said: “What was never spoken about was that three months before the accident, I’d gone to the BBC and said: ‘Unless you change something, someone’s going to die on this show.’

“So I went to them, I went to the BBC, and I told them of my concerns from what I’d seen as the most experienced driver on the show by a mile.”

Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff, the former England cricket star, sustained serious injuries in the accident at Top Gear’s Dunsfold Park Aerodrome test track.

Chris Harris speaks on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast
Speaking on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Chris Harris said he told the BBC: ‘Unless you change something, someone’s going to die on this show’

The BBC issued a public apology to Flintoff and paid him a reported £9 million settlement.

It led to the show – previously presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May – being “rested” for the “foreseeable future” by the broadcaster.

Speaking about the incident on Rogan’s podcast, Harris said: “I ran to the window, looked out, and he wasn’t moving.

“So I thought he was dead. I assumed he was, then he moved.”

Discussing the warning to the broadcaster beforehand, he added: “I said, ‘If we carry on, at the very least, we’re going to have a serious injury, the very worst we have a fatality.’

“And I think what happened with Top Gear was I saw repeatedly too many times my two co-hosts who didn’t have the experience I had in cars. This is the critical thing.”

Andrew Flintoff at the England v Sri Lanka Test match at The Oval in London on Sept 6
Flintoff sustained serious injuries in the accident - Paul Childs/Action Images via Reuters

Harris, Flintoff and Paddy McGuinness have hosted Top Gear together since 2019, but filming was stopped following the crash.

Harris said he was “qualified” to make health and safety calls because he has been racing “a long time”.

He added of his co-stars: “They weren’t. One of them is an actor-comedian. The other guy is a pro cricket player.

“Brilliant entertainers. They were great hosts. But their roles were to make people laugh. And my role was to tell people what cars were like.”

He added: “What’s really killed me is that no one’s ever really acknowledged the fact that I called it beforehand.”

He continued: “I thought I’d done the right thing. I’m not very good at that. I normally just go with the flow but I saw this coming.

“I thought I did the right thing. I went to the BBC and I found out really that no one had taken me very seriously.”

Andrew Flintoff sits on an open-seat racing car while dressed in racing clothing
After the accident, the BBC issued a public apology to Flintoff and paid him a reported £9 million settlement - Will Douglas/BBC/PA

Flintoff has worked with the BBC again this year in a second series of his cricket mentoring programme, Field of Dreams, his return to television following the crash.

The hit series has just been renewed for a third season, which has already started filming.

Flintoff’s Top Gear accident occurred in an open-topped Morgan Super 3, which flipped over.

The former cricketer sustained facial injuries that required extensive reconstructive surgery.

He has previously praised his cricketing “family” as being his greatest source of support after the incident.

“They’ll share the good times with you, the successes. But, as I found over the past few months, they’ll be there in the hardest times of your life. They will stand by you,” he said.

Andrew Flintoff, Chris Harris and Paddy McGuinness, who have hosted Top Gear together since 2019
Filming of Top Gear was stopped following Flintoff's crash - Jeff Spicer/BBC Studios

Harris told Rogan he had found it “really difficult” that the show had been put on hold.

He said: “Andrew had to recover from frankly awful injuries, and has done so – profound injuries.

“We all kept quiet. We said nothing, and I said nothing because I wanted to look after him. It wasn’t my story was it? I was caught up in the collateral damage.

“I lost my job immediately because they cancelled the show when my contract was up, so suddenly I haven’t got a job.”

He added: “And I just sort of got my head down. But I had seen this coming.

“There was a big inquiry, a lot of soul searching. The BBC is good at that.”

The BBC has been approached for comment.