
Freddie Flintoff has revealed his toddler son Preston “wouldn’t go near him” after his horrific crash on the Top Gear set.
The former professional cricketer was severely injured while filming for the BBC One motoring show at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey in December 2022.
The three-wheeled Morgan supercar Flintoff was driving overturned on the track and he dragged his face along the ground, cutting open his nose, cheek, and lips, and shattering his jawbone and teeth.
Flintoff, 47, has now revealed the devastating impact the incident had on his wife of 20 years, Rachael Wools, and their four children.
“I suffer from PTSD, I have flashbacks and nightmares, but I’ve probably got more of an acceptance of them now,” he said on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
“But I suppose that the biggest thing it did do, was brought me back to cricket. Family and friends and cricket have been things that, now, have probably helped me more than anything.”
He added: “[After the crash] I would get snappy and angry.
“The kids were incredible… It was the younger one, Preston, because he would have been about two, two and a half, at the time and he wouldn’t come near me to begin with because I was a mess.
“It’s all good now. But Rachael was strong. I suppose she had to be for both of us.”
Earlier this year, Flintoff admitted that a part of him wished he had died after his crash on the test track.
He spoke about the accident in his Disney+ documentary, which includes graphic photos of his wounds and commentary from an oral and maxillofacial surgeon who witnessed his injuries.

“After the accident I didn’t think I had it in me to get through. This sounds awful… part of me wishes I’d been killed. Part of me thinks, I wish I’d died,” he admitted on the show.
“I didn’t want to kill myself… I wouldn’t mistake the two things. I was not wishing, I was just thinking, ‘this would have been so much easier’.
“Now I try to take the attitude that the sun will come up tomorrow and my kids will still give me a hug. I’m probably in a better place now.”
He said, however, that he has “PTSD and gets anxious, for periods of time, I just find myself crying for no particular reason”.
Flintoff also said that he relives the crash every night when he goes to bed and described the experience as a “vivid” movie.
The BBC “rested” Top Gear for the foreseeable future in 2023 after reaching a financial settlement with Flintoff, an agreement reportedly worth around £9 million.