Former Top Gear presenter Rory Reid thought the show would “not end well”

Former Top Gear presenter Rory Reid said he thought the show “wasn’t going to end well” when Paddy McGuinness and Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff were announced as the new presenters.

The 44-year-old motoring journalist said he thought the stars' appearance on the show was “an exciting development” for Top Gear, but added that he did not believe they had the driving experience needed to “do some of the things the BBC asked me to do”.

Flintoff, 46, was seriously injured in an accident while filming at Dunsfold Airfield in December 2022, leading to the BBC suspending the show for the “foreseeable future”.

Reid was asked on Times Radio if he thought putting stars from TV and sport in the driving seat of Top Gear could be “a problem”. He replied: “Absolutely straight away. That was my first thought, apart from the fact that it's an exciting development for the show and I'm excited to see how it turns out.”

“My first thought was that these men, who I have had the privilege of watching on their journeys in entertainment and sport and who are fantastic at what they do, I don't think they have the driving experience to be able to do some of the things the BBC have asked me to do.

“Let's put it this way: whether the BBC gave them extra teaching and time and looked after them enough to put them in situations where they felt comfortable and safe, I cannot judge because I was not there.

“But if you were to ask me based on my experience, would it turn out well to put someone without that driving experience in those situations?

“I didn't think it was going to end well. That was my first thought when I heard who was going to be on the show.”

He went on to say he thought the show was “sometimes inherently dangerous” and said he had asked the BBC for additional training.

He said: “The first thing I would say is that the show is inherently dangerous on occasion, simply by virtue of the fact that you're driving heavy machinery, very fast cars, very powerful cars, very fast, in a way that makes it look good on television.

“So this isn't about people just jumping in a car and driving down the streets at 30 miles an hour. This is about driving them in a way that's exciting and fun.”

“And that’s pretty difficult if you don’t have any experience driving fast and don’t understand the driving dynamics and the things that can go right or wrong very quickly.

“So when you combine that with the fact that I think the BBC, and Top Gear in particular, want to make the show entertaining and very exciting, there's a tendency or potential for things to go wrong very quickly.”

Regarding his request for further training, he added: “At some point I sat back and said to myself, I don't think they know enough about my driving skills.

“And that and they're pushing me to a point where I feel like I need to be better equipped to deal with some of the things they're asking of me.

“So I was actually the one who asked them to give me extra training. I think it was my second season that I said, 'Look, can you give me extra lessons on the special stunts you asked us to do for this show?'

PA Media

“And finally, they gave me a few hours to practice with a stunt driver some of the maneuvers they occasionally ask us to do.

“But no, when you do the show, you're not getting a driving lesson. They're not going to sit you down and give you a five-day course in high-performance driving. They're going to expect you to be able to do what they ask of you.”

It is believed that the BBC required the presenters to take driving tests before inviting them to Top Gear and that they later received further training.

The company says all three of the show's most recent hosts earned international racing and commercial truck driving licenses during their time on the show.

A statement from BBC Studios said: “The independent review of health and safety in the production of Top Gear, which looked at previous seasons, found that while BBC Studios followed the required BBC guidelines and industry best practice in producing the show, there were important learnings that must be rigorously applied in future productions of Top Gear UK.”

“The report made a number of recommendations to improve safety approaches, given that Top Gear is a complex programming environment, regularly having to cope with tight filming schedules and ambitious editorial expectations – challenges often faced by long-running shows with an established on- and off-screen team.

“The learnings included a detailed action plan with changes in the way we work, such as greater clarity on roles and responsibilities and better communication between teams for every future Top Gear production.”

The BBC originally released the statement in response to the independent health and safety review of Top Gear in November 2023.

Former host Chris Harris had previously stated on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast that he had warned the BBC before Flintoff’s crash that “someone is going to die on this show.”

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