Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff was tempted back to TV by Bullseye
Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff was persuaded to return to TV by ITV's Bullseye revival following his serious accident whilst filming for Top Gear in 2022.
Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff says the Bullseye revival tempted him back to TV after his horrific Top Gear crash.
The England cricket legend will host a full series of the revived ITV game show that begins on Sunday (09.11.25) and explained how last year's Christmas special enticed him back to the small screen after he sustained serious injuries in and incident during filming for the BBC motoring show in 2022.
Freddie is quoted by The Sun newspaper's TVBiz column as saying: “I’ve not done much TV recently, I’d not presented anything and did Bullseye for a few reasons.
"One, I really like darts. And I used to watch Bullseye back in the ’80s. I never thought that I’d get the chance to present Bullseye. I always wanted to be a cricketer, I didn’t want to be Jim Bowen.
"It was fun when we did the Christmas special last year and it seemed to be really well received.
"If you like darts and want to see people try and win something, have a watch."
Freddie was joined on last year's festive special by teenage arrows ace Luke Littler and revealed that a host of darts stars will appear in this series - including Stephen Bunting and Michael van Gerwen.
The 47-year-old star said: "We’ve got them all on there. All the big names. Stephen Bunting was messaging me after the first Christmas special went out saying, 'Get us on Bullseye.'
"Michael van Gerwen is on. I’ve met him before and he’s one of the great darts players.
"Stephen was a highlight for me, though — he’s from St Helens which is only down the road from where I’m from in Preston.
"He came on and did his party piece singing Gold by Spandau Ballet. I thought we’d have to tease him into it but no, I got a mic out and he was straight on. We also have Fallon Sherrock and there’s Luke Humphries, the world No1."
Flintoff has established himself as a TV star since retiring from cricket but is surprised he keeps getting offers as he is "fluffing the autocue every two minutes".
Speaking on ITV's This Morning last month, he said: "With the TV I've always been, like, reluctantly doing TV.
"I've been fortunate, you know. I've done a lot of ideas that have been mine.
"Whether it's been the documentary on depression, which I did, we went to LA and ended up in Steven Spielberg's cinema room with David Beckham for an evening.
"It was it was nice. But, you know, TV for me, you know, I don't know why I get asked back.
"Seriously, I am fluffing the autocue every two minutes on Bullseye."
