Freddie Flintoff ‘set to work on new projects with ITV’
Nine months after publicly criticising the BBC over its treatment of him before his near-fatal Top Gear crash, Freddie Flintoff is reportedly set to work on new television projects with ITV.
Freddie Flintoff is reportedly set to work on new projects with ITV.
Nine months after publicly criticising the BBC over its treatment of him before his near-fatal Top Gear crash, the former England cricketer and presenter, 48 – whose final BBC series Field of Dreams ended last year – is expected to collaborate further with ITV following a run of recent appearances on the channel.
The apparent move, reported by The Sun today (03.02.26) comes after a turbulent period that saw Freddie’s flagship BBC role halted and future commissions quietly disappear.
Freddie signed with the BBC’s Top Gear in 2019 and, by early 2022, had become one of the corporation’s most recognisable on-screen figures.
Alongside the motoring show, he fronted Field of Dreams on BBC One, in which he helped children create their own cricket teams, and had BBC Two’s car renovation programme Chasing Cars lined up.
But after a serious accident during filming at Dunsfold Park Aerodrome in 2022, Top Gear was suspended in 2023 and the planned renovation series did not proceed.
Field of Dreams will not return, and the BBC has confirmed there are no further projects currently planned with him.
An industry insider told The Sun: “This is a huge development as when Freddie signed for Top Gear in 2019, he increasingly started to become a face of the BBC.
“Although he wasn’t exclusive to the corporation, by early 2022, he delivered Field Of Dreams for BBC One, and had BBC Two motor renovation show, Chasing Cars, in the pipeline.
“But by 2023, Top Gear had been slapped on ice and the renovation show is now a distant memory. Field Of Dreams won’t be returning and Freddie has no more projects lined up with the Beeb.”
On ITV1, Freddie has found renewed success.
He recently completed his first full series as host of Bullseye and appeared as a guest judge on Saturday night entertainment show The Masked Singer. Further ITV projects are expected to be confirmed shortly.
Last year, Freddie spoke about his Top Gear crash in his Disney+ documentary Flintoff, describing the incident that left him with severe injuries after a three-wheeled vehicle flipped and dragged him along the tarmac.
He said: “Everyone wants that bigger stunt. In some ways it’s, ‘Let’s have that near miss, because that’ll get viewers’.”
Freddie added: “You’re just a commodity, a piece of meat.”
He also said he was “lucky to be alive”.
A BBC spokeswoman said: “We are incredibly proud of the RTS award-winning series Field Of Dreams and, while there are no current plans for it to return, we want to thank Freddie, producers South Shore and all the contributors for three fantastic series.”
