Freddie Flintoff and Paddy McGuinness pledge to revive Top Gear as it returns on Father’s Day this Sunday
PADDY McGuinness, Freddie Flintoff and Chris Harris take over at the wheel of Top Gear as it returns on Father’s Day this Sunday – and will have a right old laugh.
After a few bumps in the road for the much-loved BBC show, and changes to the line-up, Take Me Out host Paddy is sure he can bring a whole load of fun.
In an exclusive chat with The Sun, he said: “I want it to rate really well because, coming from Saturday night TV, it’s all about ratings.
“But I didn’t take the job with ratings in the back of my head.
“I took it because I love the show and thought it was a fantastic opportunity.”
Paddy was speaking as he, former England cricketer Freddie and myself were taken for a spin on the show’s Dunfold track by the lads’ racing- driver co-host Chris, in a Mercedes-AMG E63S Estate.
Top Gear’s new trio will be doing just as many high- octane stunts and overseas expeditions as previous hosts Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond.
But unlike Jeremy and Co, they will also reveal their softer side — when they have an emotional group hug in the first episode.
Freddie explained: “Times have changed. When I first started playing cricket, if you showed any feelings you’d get a smack round the head.
“Now I think the conversations I have with my mates are different.”
But above all, Paddy wants to revive the show’s glory days.
He said: “People don’t want Top Gear to fail — they just want to get the magic back and hopefully we’ll get there with it.”
“You can never predict anything. If viewers love it, I will be not just happy for us but for Top Gear as a brand. It is a British icon and I want it to be loved again.”
From what I’ve seen, it deserves to be a success.
Whoops, Freddie stalls it
FREDDIE felt dead silly – after crashing a hearse.
He veered into a market stall during a race called Le Mansfield, around the Nottinghamshire town.
Freddie said: “The hearse ended up in a market.”
He also revealed: “I rolled one in Iceland, but you’re meant to in the competition.
“And Chris has crashed into me twice but I’m not taking responsibility for them. So in total five crashes but two not my fault.”
Meanwhile, co-star Paddy is prang-free. He said: “I’m the safest driver out of the three of us, I’ve not had anything.”
But he narrowly swerved a situation when his two fellow hosts collided ahead of him in the Ethiopian desert. He said: “I was at the back, luckily.
“There’s nothing there [in the desert]. So how do you have an accident?”
Top Gear bit
A HIGHLY charged second episode sees the presenters build their own electric cars and compete in challenges, including rally-racing around a power station – and driving around a track while being electrocuted.
It’s spark and ride
THE show has seen hosts come and go over the past three years. But Chris Harris, who has been there since 2016, says the chemistry is now great, as the lads spark off each other.
He said: “Ah, the C-word, mate. It’s horrendous when you stand there with people, someone switches on a camera and you go, ‘I don’t want to be here.’ But now I want to be here.”
I’ve seen the boys fire off each other and it is sparks that can’t be created by telly bosses.
Freddie added: “Chemistry only gets mentioned when there isn’t any – it must be a horrible position where it’s all a bit awkward but from day one that’s not been happening.”
Top Gear bit
IN episode one, the three hosts buy examples of their own first cars – a Porsche, Mini and Ford Escort – before driving them on Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression desert plain, which is the hottest place on Earth.
Chris is car sick
CHRIS Harris was left fearing for his life when he collapsed in Ethiopia.
Crew were forced to rush food and water to him while he was filming in the blistering African sun.
When he got back to the UK, he still felt unwell and sought medical advice.
He said: “I asked the GP, ‘Have I got something here, have I got malaria? And he just looked at me and said, ‘You are just profoundly dehydrated and you’ve got heatstroke’.
“A few electrolytes and we were away.”
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