'I couldn’t get out of the room' - Freddie Flintoff reveals mental health struggles after horror Top Gear car crash
22 April 2025, 22:49 | Updated: 22 April 2025, 23:01
Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff has opened up about his mental health struggles following his horror car crash on the set of Top Gear.
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Mr Flintoff sustained severe facial and rib injuries in the crash while filming Top Gear in 2022. In one of his first interviews since the accident, Mr Flintoff has told of his initial reluctance to return to public life.
The 47-year-old England all-rounder revealed it took him 10 goes to leave his hotel bedroom due to anxiety on his first morning as an England coach in 2023.
Mr Flintoff told former England captain and The Times’ cricket correspondent Mike Atherton: “That day in Cardiff (in September 2023), it took me 10 goes to leave my (hotel) bedroom. I couldn’t get out of the room.
“I was so anxious and worried. I eventually went down to breakfast; sat down and chatted with Reece Topley and then Jos (Buttler)."
Mr Flintoff said: “In the dressing room, Joe Root came over, one of the best men you’ll ever meet, and everyone made me feel so welcome.
“Slowly but surely I started to find my feet. And sitting on the balcony and being pictured. Even the press were nice about me. It’s amazing what an accident can do.”
Mr Flintoff recently shared never-before-seen footage of the crash ahead of the launch of his new documentary.
In the trailer for the new Disney+ doc, paramedics can be seen treating a person who appears to be Mr Flintoff next to a destroyed vehicle.
Looking back on the crash, Mr Flintoff says: "I remember everything about it. It's so vivid. This is what I'm left with… I wouldn't say I'm embracing them but I'm not trying to hide my scars."
Speaking of the 90-minute documentary, Mr Flintoff said: "I’d lived under the radar for seven months, one of the real frustrations was the speculation, that’s why I’m doing this now. What actually happened?"
Freddie Flintoff set to explore horror crash
Mr Flintoff retired as a player in 2010 aged 31 after playing in 79 Tests between 1998 and 2009 and stepped away from cricket to focus on his television career.
He revealed how old friend Rob Key, current England director of cricket, encouraged him back into the England fold in 2023.
Initially invited to help with England Under-19s, Mr Flintoff was appointed as England Lions head coach in September 2024.
