Jeremy Clarkson has addressed whether he would return to Top Gear and revealed the reason he believes the BBC opted to axe the show from the nation’s TV screens, exclaiming that replacing Freddie would make the new presenter look like a “heartless t***”.
“I think the main reason is that Richard Hammond was always keen to get back to work [after accidents], whereas Freddie isn’t [and] I don’t blame him,” the Clarkson’s Farm star mused, acknowledging that his accident was “horrific”.
“Sure, the producers could try to find a replacement. But would you want that gig? Really?” he continued.
“Not only would you come across as a heartless t***, you’d be on a show that was written and produced every week by a newly invigorated and all-powerful health and safety department.”
He then joked that Freddie’s replacement would find himself working for a corporation which “fundamentally likes cycle lanes”.
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It has also been speculated that producers would now struggle to find insurance at a sustainable cost in the aftermath of Freddie’s disastrous accident.
Reflecting on his own history on the programme, Jeremy confided that there’d often been a phone call “to say Richard Hammond was being airlifted to hospital after yet another accident”.
Continuing in his column for The Sun, Jeremy playfully poked fun at his accident-prone former co-star for constantly spending his wages on trousers, joking that Richard would end up being “cut out of them” the same afternoon he bought them.
However, after he recovered from each mishap, the show still went on – something which will no longer be happening following Freddie Flintoff’s own devastating accident.
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The former cricketer was airlifted to hospital last December after suffering a terrifying crash when the car he was taking for a test drive at the Dunsfold Park Aerodrome flipped over.
For several months, he disappeared from the public eye, as his 16-year-old son Carey exclaimed that he was “lucky to be alive”.
Fortunately, Freddie’s head had been protected by a helmet, but he’d incurred broken ribs and facial injuries so severe that the marks are still present today.
Initially, it had seemed as if the sporting star turned presenter could make a return to Top Gear after his recovery, with the BBC initially saying that they had merely halted series 34.
They stated at the time: “We have sincerely apologised to Freddie and will continue to support him with his recovery.”
However, the situation became clearer this month when the channel stated that the show would be taking time out indefinitely.
A statement clarified: “Given the exceptional circumstances, the BBC has decided to rest the UK show for the foreseeable future.
“The BBC remains committed to Freddie, Chris [Harris] and Paddy [McGuinness], who have been at the heart of the show’s renaissance since 2019, and we’re excited about new projects being developed with each of them.”
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