Ex-Stig triggers legal battle over Top Gear-ending crash

The modern incarnation of the BBC’s Top Gear ended abruptly in December 2022, when co-host and former English international test cricketer, Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff, suffered significant facial injuries after an on-set car crash.

Flintoff, who joined Paddy McGuinness as a host of Top Gear alongside Chris Harris in 2019, was driving a Morgan Super 3 three-wheeler when the vehicle rolled at the Dunsfold Aerodrome.

The crash led him to undergo facial surgery and eventually led to a £9 million ($17 million) settlement for the former cricketer, who has resumed his life in the sport in a coaching capacity.

Though it wasn’t published at the time, Flintoff had a passenger onboard with him at the time of the incident, and now he is attempting to sue the BBC.

Paul Rees was sitting beside Flintoff when the car crashed, and was at the time claimed to be one of Top Gear’s mysterious, unknown racing drivers, known as The Stig.

While Phil Keen had been confirmed as the last Stig in 2024 by former Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson, it’s understood the role was shared with – or had been passed to – Rees shortly before the incident.

In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Rees detailed the day leading up to the incident, sharing his reservations at the time about driving the Morgan at high speed, noting its relative lack of roll-over protection and potential to become inverted.

Rees told The Sun he had questioned why they were not required to wear helmets, and that he had been told by a Morgan staff member that the only risk of flipping the car was if it ended up going backwards and then had steering input.

The racing driver added that he was taken to hospital on a spinal board following the incident, while Flintoff had been air-lifted via helicopter as Rees claims the on-site medical team didn’t have the resources to deal with the extent of his injuries.

Almost four years on from the incident, Rees is now suing the BBC for £100,000 (A$191,200) in damages, though the broadcaster has hit back at claims of negligence.

As reported by BBC News, a BBC Studios defence filing showed conversations between Flintoff and Rees in the Morgan, in which it’s alleged Flintoff was concerned about the car’s potential to roll, but was reassured by Rees that it wouldn’t happen.

Rees reportedly told Flintoff to apply more power through a corner, which was followed by its crash.

“At no time in the period after the accident did the claimant (Rees) suggest that he had suffered any injury in the accident,” BBC Studios said in its court documents.

In 2024, Chris Harris – who has since returned to YouTube, having become popular on the platform prior to joining Top Gear – told Joe Rogan that he had foreseen incidents arrising due to the BBC’s complacency.

"I had seen this coming," Harris said on the Joe Rogan Experience.

"There was a big inquiry, a lot of soul searching, the BBC is good at that. But what was never spoken about was that, three months before the accident, I’d gone to the BBC and said: unless you change something, someone’s going to die on this show."

"I saw this coming. I thought I did the right thing. I went to the BBC. And I found out that no one had taken me very seriously."

Top Gear was placed on indefinite hiatus following the crash, before the BBC said it was resting the title in 2024.