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Freddie Flintoff will reportedly be off the air until at least 2024 as he continues to recover from a Top Gear crash that left him “lucky to be alive.”
The former England cricketer was taken to hospital with facial injuries and broken ribs after a collision at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey last December.
Production of the car series had already been halted by the company and it is now believed that another show involving the 45-year-old has been suspended.
The untitled BBC2 series, similar to The Repair Shop, aimed to show car owners bringing in their old firecrackers to be repaired by Freddie and his team.
A source said: “We hoped the restoration show had been an easy way to get back into television for Freddie, who was clearly shaken by the accident.”
Recovery: Freddie Flintoff, 45, will reportedly be off the air until at least 2024 as he continues to recover from his shocking Top Gear crash that left him ‘lucky to be alive’ (pictured in 2022)
Shock: The former England cricketer was airlifted to hospital with facial injuries and broken ribs after a collision at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey on December 13 last year
On Hold: Production of the car series had already been halted by the company and now another of Freddie’s shows are believed to have been suspended (L-R: Freddie Flintoff, Chris Harris, Paddy McGuinness)
And the fact that he could have made it this spring meant there was a chance we’d see him back on our screens by the end of the year.
“But it’s not a good sign that filming was called off at such a relatively late stage, and viewers will be upset that such a popular star has been off the air for so long.”
MailOnline has contacted Freddie’s representatives and the BBC for comment.
Last month, Freddie was seen for the first time since his horror attack that left him seriously injured four months earlier.
He was driving a three-wheel open-top Morgan Super 3 car at 210 mph when the vehicle flipped over at an airfield.
He suffered broken ribs and serious facial injuries after the accident and has been resting since then to cancel his work commitments. He was later said to have been “lucky to be alive” after the incident.
But Freddie was spotted with his face covered and wearing a bucket hat sitting in the passenger seat of his car while his wife Rachael drove, in photos published by The sun on Sunday.
An onlooker told the publication, “He was reading something on his phone and stayed in the car while Rachael stepped into a store.
Stripped: The untitled BBC2 series, similar to The Repair Shop, was due to car owners bringing in their old firecrackers to be repaired by Freddie and his team (seen on Top Gear last year)
Accident: He was driving for the auto show in a three-wheel open-top Morgan Super 3 car traveling at 130 mph when the vehicle overturned
Recovery: Freddie was spotted with his face covered and wearing a bucket hat as he sat in the passenger seat of his car while his wife Rachael drove last month (Andrew and Rachel pictured in 2019)
“It was good to see him in public and apparently doing well after what he went through.
“He did look like he’d lost some weight.”
It comes after a BBC chief said it would be ‘really inappropriate’ for Top Gear to resume filming while Freddie recovers from his horror crash.
At a Broadcasting Press Guild (BPG) event last month, Charlotte Moore, the company’s chief content officer, was asked if the BBC is committed to bringing back Top Gear.
She said: ‘My priority right now is to support Freddie through his recovery, so I think it would be really inappropriate for us to continue filming now.
“I think when we get to the point where he feels ready . . . and we’ll start thinking about getting him back.”
On hold: Charlotte Moore, chief content officer at the BBC (pictured), said it would be ‘inappropriate’ to start filming Top Gear while Freddie is recovering
She added, “I think we need to talk about what Freddie wants to do. If someone is recovering, I don’t think we would push that… I think that would be really inappropriate, I wouldn’t be happy.
“I think you have to be very human about this and do the right thing.”
A statement from the BBC earlier this year said a health and safety review of the show will take place, ‘in accordance with our procedures’, following the December 13 crash.
It is understood that a decision on whether to resume shooting will be made later in the year.
Freddie has taken time off work to recover and Top Gear is reportedly not returning.
The Morgan Motor Company was known for making three-wheeled cars before the war before returning them to production in the 2000s.
Freddie Flintoff’s new BBC show shelved after horror Top Gear crash