Freddie Flintoff has shared a rare insight into his near-death experience on the set of Top Gear.
In December 2022, retired cricketer Freddie crashed a car at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, during filming for the now-axed BBC series. The accident caused Freddie to sustain serious facial injuries, and he subsequently hid from public life for six months.
Now, for the first time since the incident, Freddie has chosen to reflect on the crash and reveal his mindset at the time.
During his new Disney+ documentary, Flintoff, the 47-year-old recalled his first thoughts after the crash occurred.
"I thought I was dead. I was conscious, but I couldn't see anything. I was thinking, 'Is that it?'” he explained, before adding: “I pulled my hat up and thought, 'I'm not, this isn't heaven'... I just looked down, and blood started coming."
Freddie then admitted: "My biggest fear was that I didn't have a face. I thought my face had come off. I was frightened to death."
In another scene, the sports star could be seen attending a hospital appointment for his recovery, before he confessed that he remains frustrated by his injuries.
"It winds me up a bit because I don't think I'm happy with it. I am appreciative of it, they're both amazing, but they'll never give me what I had back... I just want people to be honest and say, ‘Yeah, it is a f***ing mess, isn't it?'" Freddie noted.
"I still live it every day. I see the car every night when I go to bed. It's so vivid, I have not slept the same since,” he stated, continuing: "It's a movie in my head but I've watched it as well in car footage. I've seen it, I demanded it. I wanted validation for myself, this is why I'm feeling this, this is why I'm so bad.”
Freddie added: "The memories are so real to the point where I'm talking about it and I'm getting a bit jittery and I can feel the pain in the side of my face. I can feel the phantom pain. It's like a curse really."
Flintoff will be released tomorrow (April 25) on Disney+.
