First Big Brother winner Craig Phillips tells of his terror after the brakes failed on his Jaguar I-Pace
8 March 2024, 09:01
The first-ever winner of Big Brother, Craig Phillips, has spoken about how the brakes stopped working on his £76,000 Jaguar I-Pace while his wife and children were in the car.
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The TV personality, 52, said days after his Jag was returned from the manufacturer for a separate issue, he was unable to use his brakes as he approached a red light with two cars in front of him.
He was driving with his two children, aged three and five, in car seats in the back, and his wife Laura, 37, in the passenger seat after a family meal on New Year’s Eve.
Craig told MailOnline: “I can’t describe what a terrifying feeling that was. The more I pushed down, the more it forced up, and the car carried on rolling,” he said.
A week ago he posted a video on Instagram of a car shopping trip with Laura where he described how he was looking forward to getting rid of his Jag.
In the frightening incident in his Jaguar, Craig said that luckily the lights ahead of him changed from red to green at the last minute and the two cars in front pulled away before a crash.
“There was no way of stopping,” he added. “This was like the hydraulic pushing my foot up.”
He said his options would have been to either mount the curb, hit the cars in front, or swerve into oncoming traffic.
He managed to turn into a quieter road and after about 30 metres the brakes cut back in and the he was able to stop the vehicle.
They decided to return home but “as I pulled into our house drive, it happened again,” Craig explained.
Jaguar told him to bring the car in to be looked at but Craig told them it needed to be picked up and transported but he was told “we don’t have that service.”
A Jaguar Land Rover spokesman said: 'We are taking these claims by Mr Phillips very seriously and are looking into his complaint. Our client experience as well as the safety of our clients and vehicles is JLR's highest priority.'
Earlier this week another I-Pace driver was stuck behind the wheel as his car sped up to 100mph on the M62.
Nathan Owen, 31, was on his way back from his first day at a new job when his 2019 I-Pace accelerated up to 100mph on the motorway without brakes.
A huge police operation was launched to bring his car to a stop after 35 minutes.
He said: “In the back of my mind, I was thinking I'm going to end up crashing the car, I'm going to kill myself or I'm going to kill an innocent person on the roads.”
“The car was in its own world. I had no brakes. The worst thing about it is that it’s happened before.”
A Jaguar Land Rover spokeswoman said: “Following the incident involving a Jaguar I-Pace on the M62 on the afternoon of March 6, we are looking into this matter with urgency.
“A full review is underway to determine the cause of this incident, which is still yet to be established. The safety of our clients and vehicles is JLR's highest priority.”
