Paddy McGuinness reflects on horrific Top Gear crash that left ‘brain rattling’

Paddy McGuinness has recounted how it felt to be involved in a car crash while filming for Top Gear. The former BBC presenter has also divulged details regarding the accident’s aftermath, and how he suffered from a panic attack.

Appearing on Gordon Smart and Martin Compston’s Restless Natives podcast, the father-of-three discussed Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff’s horror crash before revisiting his own.

Paddy, 50, said: “I think personally – and I’m not speaking for Fred, this is just myself – when you’re in anything in a car, in a tricky [situation] or you have a smash, it does stay with you. And it’s like that kind of Post-traumatic stress disorder.

“You have a bit of that. I remember we were in a race in America and I hit this wall and I was doing about 70 to 80 miles per hour.

“Again, Flintoff calls that, I’ve let him know. But I hit this wall in this car that hard you could feel your f****ng brains rattling.”

Read more Paddy McGuinness talks cancel culture in new career move after Top Gear hiatus

The former ITV Take Me Out presenter then went on to “thank the Lord” that he “walked away” from the accident.

“But I remember that night, being in my bed in the hotel and literally having a bit of a panic attack.

“It comes back to me. It stays with you,” he added.

Paddy’s latest interview comes after BBC bosses made the decision to “rest” Top Gear for the “foreseeable future”.

The statement came after the 34th series of the show was put on hold following Freddie’s devastating accident at Dunsfold Aerodrome in December 2022.

“We’ve agreed with BBC Content that given the exceptional circumstances, we will be resting production of the Top Gear UK show for the foreseeable future,” the BBC said in a statement.

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“We’ll continue to support the programme’s core production team and will be leaning on their expertise in a broader production capacity until such time as the UK show can restart.”

Bosses added that the Top Gear brand remains “incredibly popular in the UK and globally” and that all other activity linked to the show “remains unaffected by this hiatus”.

Paddy has previously been involved in another crash while filming for the BBC’s monolithic car show.

Back in May 2020, the comedian took to Instagram to let fans know he’d been driving a Lamborghini Diablo in the Yorkshire Dales and had lost control of the vehicle

At the time, paramedics and police were quick to the scene, and the vehicle was lying in multiple pieces in a field after the Phoenix Nights star escaped.

“I finally got to drive one of my fantasy childhood cars – the Lamborghini Diablo – but it turns out 30-year-old supercars don’t like torrential rain, who’d have thought?

“If you’ve ever owned a Diablo or you’ve driven one you’ll know just as well as me, oh my God, she can be a cruel mistress, she can be a cruel mistress that one.”

He added that his recovery was going to consist of “a cup of tea, a paracetamol and a good old cry”.

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