An ex-Prime Gear host stated he feared the present ‘would not finish effectively’ when TV bosses added TV and sports activities stars – Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff and Paddy McGuinness – to the roster.
Rory Reid, 44, divulged that he had fears about placing celebrities behind the Prime Gear wheel as they lacked the driving expertise and know-how.
It comes as former England cricketer and ex-host Flintoff, was badly injured in an accident while filming the present at Dunsfold Aerodrome in December 2022, the place he flipped a three-wheeled automobile.
The cricket legend admitted the after results of the crash would possibly observe him ‘for the remainder of my life’ and stated he believes he ‘genuinely should not be right here’, with the incident main the BBC led to tug the brakes on the present for ‘foreseeable future’.
In an interview with Occasions Radio, former Prime Gear host Reid, was requested if he believed placing TV and sporting celebrities within the driving seat may have change into a difficulty to which he retorted: ‘Completely immediately.’
Ex-Prime Gear host Rory Reid (Picutred) feared the present wouldn’t ‘finish effectively’ when Freddie Flintoff and Paddy McGuinness had been introduced as hosts
Freddie Flintoff on a motorised trike whereas filming a sequence of BBC programme Prime Gear
He confessed he thought it could possibly be a difficulty because the likes of McGuinness and Flintoff lacked the expertise to ‘be capable of do among the factor the BBC was asking [him] to do.’
He continued: ‘The very first thing I believed was these males, who I have been fortunate sufficient to observe on their leisure journeys and sports activities journeys, who’re fabulous at what they do.
‘I do not suppose they’ve the driving expertise to the extent the place they’d be capable of do among the the issues BBC requested me to do.’
He defined that it wasn’t for him ‘to say’ if the BBC had given them further tuition and time to place the brand new hosts into sure conditions, the place it was ‘comfy and protected’, as he was not current.
He continued: ‘However primarily based on my expertise, in the event you requested me whether or not placing somebody with out that degree of driving expertise in these conditions and whether or not it might finish effectively?’
‘I did not suppose it was going to finish effectively. That was my first ever thought having heard about who can be on the present.’
Explaining the hazards that include the ‘often inherently harmful’ present, he stated: ‘This isn’t folks simply leaping right into a automobile and going 30 miles an hour on the street. That is driving them in a manner that’s thrilling and enjoyable.
‘And it’s fairly tough to try this if you do not have a background in driving automobiles in a short time and perceive the form of driving dynamics and issues that may go proper and unsuitable in a short time.’
He was involved when BBC added celebrities to the internet hosting roster as he anxious they lacked the driving expertise (Pictured: Chris Harris and Rory Reid)
England cricketer and ex-host Flintoff, was badly injured in an accident while filming the present at Dunsfold Aerodrome in December 2022, the place he flipped a three-wheeled automobile (Pictured: Freddie Flintoff and comic Paddy McGuinness on the BBC driving present)
Flintoff stop Prime Gear and reached a £9million settlement with the BBC following the crash. Pictured: Flintoff (left) together with his Prime Gear co-hosts Paddy McGuinness (centre) and Chris Harris (proper)
‘So, , and whenever you mix that with the truth that I believe BBC and Prime Gear specifically need to make the present look enjoyable and look very thrilling, then there’s a tendency or a possible for issues to go unsuitable in a short time.’
It comes as Prime Gear presenter Chris Harris claimed he warned BBC bosses earlier than Freddie Flintoff’s high-speed automobile crash.
The 49-year-old host, who was on set on the time of the accident which occurred throughout filming for Prime Gear, has additionally stated he thought Flintoff had died.
The accident at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey in December 2022 left the 46-year-old former England cricketer with important facial and rib accidents.
And racing driver Harris informed The Joe Rogan Expertise podcast: ‘What was by no means spoken about was that three months earlier than the accident, I might gone to the BBC and stated, except you modify one thing, somebody’s going to die on this present.
‘So I went to them, I went to the BBC, and I informed them of my issues from what I might seen as essentially the most skilled driver on the present by a mile.
I stated if we stock on on the very least, we’ll have a critical harm; on the very worst, we’ll have a fatality.
‘And I believe what occurred with Prime Gear was I noticed repeatedly too many instances my two co-hosts who did not have the expertise I had in automobiles. That is the important factor.’
Prime Gear presenters Freddie Flintoff and Chris Harris, pictured in a publicity photograph in 2018
England coach Freddie Flintoff at The Oval yesterday on day one of many Third Rothesay Males’s Check
Harris stated he was ‘certified to make these choices as a result of I’ve accomplished it a very long time’, including: ‘They weren’t. Certainly one of them is an actor-comedian. The opposite man is a professional cricket participant.
‘Sensible entertainers. They had been nice hosts. However their roles had been to make folks chuckle. And my position was to inform folks what automobiles had been like.’
Within the Occasions Radio interview, the place he mentioned Prime Gear, Reid additionally revealed that he had requested the BBC for extra coaching.
Sharing that he believed the BBC didn’t know sufficient about his driving capability he added: ‘They [were] pushing me to a degree the place I really feel I should be higher geared up to take care of among the issues they’re asking me to do.’
‘So I used to be truly the one who requested them to provide me further coaching. I believe in my second sequence, I stated, pay attention, are you able to give me some further tuition on the precise stunts that you just requested us to do throughout this present.’
The BBC documentary Freddie Flintoff’s Area Of Goals On Tour noticed the 46-year-old take a bunch of younger folks from his residence city of Preston on a cricketing tour of India
Following this Reid was given further hours with a stunt driver to run via a couple of of the manoeuvres they had been requested to do on the sequence.
It’s understood that the the BBC had presenters undergo driving assessments earlier than they change into a part of the TV present, the place they’re given further coaching.
In line with The Mirror, the BBC claimed all three of Prime Gear’s most up-to-date presenters had been awarded industrial industrial HGV and worldwide racing licences and while on the present.
MailOnline has approached the BBC for remark.
