Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff’s life will never be the same after a fateful 2022 car crash that left him with permanent facial injuries and kept him isolated at home for eight months. The iconic fast-bowling all-rounder cemented himself as a personable England cricket legend in the early 2000s, being named captain between 2006 and 2007 and aiding in the Ashes victories of 2005 and 2009.
Flintoff’s brief retirement was halted for a Twenty20 return with Lancashire and a Big Bash League stint before he danced off into a sphere he has thrived in – television. Appearances on the Australian edition of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! and Sky’s A League of Their Own shot Flintoff to notoriety, and in 2019, he became a presenter on the revamped Top Gear.
It was during filming for the iconic BBC series that Flintoff suffered his darkest day. In late 2022, a crash left the Englishman with serious facial and rib injuries, and he feared for his life.
While he has since recovered, the mental anguish from the incident still remains, and Flintoff is set to shed some light upon his life after the crash in a new Disney+ documentary named Flintoff. Ahead of the programme’s release, we take a look back at the details and fallout of the accident and his rollercoaster personal life.
Flintoff’s wealth is estimated at around £16million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, with most of his earnings coming from television rather than his cricket career.
The Englishman played as a bowler, batsman, and fielded in the slip, and he was consistently ranked by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as one of the sport’s top all-rounders.
He served as captain and vice-captain of the England national team but retired in 2010 due to deep vein thrombosis, which developed after knee surgery. On TV, Flintoff has hosted shows such as Total Wipeout, Ninja Warrior, and the docuseries Field of Dreams.
In addition to his broadcast work, the former cricket star is a brand ambassador for Puma and has endorsed brands like Sure deodorant and William Hill.
Ahead of Flintoff’s release, the man himself will discuss his crash and its lingering effects in depth. The incident occurred in December 2022, during filming for an episode of Top Gear at Dunsfold Park Aerodrome.
Flintoff was piloting a Morgan Super 3 trike with a crew member on board when it flipped over on track. According to initial reports, it was travelling at around 130mph. However, subsequent reports contradicted this and stated that the crash occurred at 22mph.
When the roofless vehicle was flipped, Flintoff’s face was reportedly dragged along the track, leaving him with severe facial injuries, despite him and the crew member wearing helmets, and requiring several operations. He was airlifted to hospital immediately after the crash.
New pictures shared as part of the Disney+ release show medical personnel attending to the former cricket star on the side of the track. After the accident, the BBC cancelled the show completely and reportedly paid Flintoff £9m in compensation.
While Flintoff at one point feared for his life, the injuries he sustained were not life-threatening, but life-altering. A series of surgeries were required to improve significant facial scarring, and while his physical recovery was long, Flintoff has now opened up about the mental side of things.
“Afterwards, obviously, there’s the physical scars that I’ve got. But then the mental side of it,” he stated on the Jonathan Ross Show. “I didn’t leave the house for probably six or eight months. The only times I was leaving the house was for medical appointments and surgeries.
“A mate of mine, Rob Key, who is actually my boss, known him for 30 years, he started inviting me to come and watch the cricket, test matches, but sit in a back room, not in the crowd. I was wearing a full face mask for months.
“I started getting back into it and started to find my feet a little bit. Ever since I can remember, from being a kid, cricket was a massive part of my life. I’m more accepting of it now, it is what it is and move on.”
Helping Flintoff through the turmoil was glamorous long-time partner Rachael Wools. The couple tied the knot in 2005 and have four children together: Holly, Corey, Rocky, who’s following in his father’s footsteps for Lancashire and England, and Preston.
Their relationship hasn’t always been rosy, however, and during his playing career, Flintoff admits that he put his wife “through hell” with his mental health issues and reliance on alcohol.
“Looking back, I feel for the missus. She used to get the worst of me,” he penned in his 2015 memoir. “She didn’t come out and celebrate when we won – that was with the lads – and I’d rock in at five in the morning, stinking and falling over.
“When we lost, she’d see me drowning my sorrows in the corner. And then your career is all over. You can understand why cricketers’ marriages break down. If the shoe was on the other foot, I might have just said, ‘You know what, sod this’.”
Having started drinking at 17, Flintoff described himself as a “competitive drinker,” though this wasn’t the only issue the ex-England superstar dealt with in his troubled youth.
While appearing on the Jonathan Ross show, the 47-year-old also joked that he was “like the Robin Hood of Preston” in his younger years, helping friends steal while working a Woolworths retail job.
“My mates used to come in, and it was the days before they had sensors at the front of the store, so they’d come in, and it started off they’d bring a CD to my counter, and I’d just put it in a bag and give it to them,” he admitted.
“Then, we progressed to Playstations,” Flintoff light-heartedly continued, before fellow guest on the show, actor Jason Isaacs, poignantly pointed out: “Is that the Woolworths that went bankrupt?” That elicited a cheeky wry smile and laughter from Flintoff.
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