BBC decides to park ‘Top Gear’ after Freddie Flintoff horror crash

The BBC said in a statement on Tuesday it will "rest" its long-running motoring show Top Gear "for the foreseeable future" after a crash in December 2022 left Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff seriously injured. The former England cricket captain, 45, co-presented the show alongside Take Me Out host Paddy McGuinness and motoring journalist Chris Harris.

The accident occurred while filming a new season of the show at the Top Gear test track at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey. The open-top Morgan Super 3 Flintoff was driving flipped over at speed, causing severe facial injuries from which the cricketer turned media personality is still recovering. In October BBC Studios agreed to settle with Flintoff for a reported £9m (about R207m) to aid with the star's rehabilitation and loss of income. 

"Given the exceptional circumstances, the BBC has decided to rest the UK show for the foreseeable future," the corporation said. 

"The BBC remains committed to Freddie, Chris and Paddy, 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. We will have more to say in the near future on this. We know resting the show will be disappointing news for fans, but it is the right thing to do."

"All other Top Gear activity remains unaffected by this hiatus including international formats, digital, magazines and licensing."