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Kelly Rissman
US Information Reporter
High Gear star Chris Harris has claimed he warned BBC bosses about security failings on the present forward of Freddie Flintoff’s horror crash.
Flintoff, 46, was concerned within the near-fatal incident whereas filming the motoring present in December 2022.
Harris, who joined the line-up alongside cricketer Flintoff and comic Paddy McGuinness in 2016, recalled the horrific accident and took intention on the BBC for allegedly failing to take correct security precautions.
Talking on Joe Rogan’s podcast, The Joe Rogan Expertise, Harris recalled how Flintoff had not been sporting a helmet and alleged that he had not been briefed correctly on the day earlier than driving the car at Dunsfold Park Aerodrome – house to theHigh Gear take a look at observe.
The motoring journalist additionally claimed that the shoot had been “rushed”, stating that he didn’t have time to seek the advice of Flintoff concerning the car he can be driving.
“He wasn’t sporting a crash helmet. And for those who do this, even at 25, 30 miles an hour, the accidents that you simply maintain are profound,” he stated. “I used to be there on the day. I used to be the one presenter with Fred that day.
“I wasn’t really proper by him, however I used to be shut by. I keep in mind the radio message that I heard; I at all times used to have a radio in my little room on the take a look at observe the place I used to be sitting inside so I might hear what was happening.”
Harris continued: “And I heard somebody say this has been an actual accident right here. The automotive’s the wrong way up. So, I ran to the window, appeared out and he wasn’t shifting. So, I assumed he was lifeless. I assumed he was, then he moved.”
Claiming that Flintoff had not been adequately briefed forward of the shoot, Harris stated that it was solely “on the final minute” that they have been knowledgeable he can be utilizing a Morgan three-wheeler – which Harris known as a “very tough automotive”.
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Harris stated there have been two folks on set that had pushed a Morgan three-wheeler earlier than: himself and an expert driver, each of whom, he claimed, weren’t consulted forward of the shoot.
“Nobody had requested us something concerning the automotive. They’d simply gone on and shot it with out us,” he stated. “And I feel if I’m wanting within the mirror, I discover it very tough, even now, that Andrew [Freddie], who I cherished to bits, a stunning man, he was a professional cricket participant. He wasn’t an automotive man.”
Harris stated that because of the “rushed” schedule of the day, he was not given an opportunity to talk with Flintoff about “how he may strategy a tough car”.
“And that was the sooner or later that it went flawed,” he continued. “I discover that very tough to dwell with. And I really feel partly accountable as a result of I didn’t get the possibility to speak to him.”
Harris went on to assert that he had warned the BBC three months previous to the accident that “somebody’s going to die on this present” if security protocols weren’t amped up.
“What was by no means spoken about was that three months earlier than the accident, I’d gone to the BBC and stated, except you alter one thing, somebody’s going to die on this present so I went to them, I went to the BBC, and I advised them of my issues from what I’d seen as essentially the most skilled driver on the present by a mile,” he stated.
“I stated, if we feature on on the very least, we’re gonna have a severe damage and on the very worst, we’re gonna have fatality.”
Harris stated that in his time on the present he had seen “repeatedly too many instances my two co-hosts didn’t have the expertise I had in vehicles”.
“That is the essential factor. I’m certified to make these selections as a result of I’ve executed it for a very long time. They weren’t. One in all them is an actor-comedian. The opposite man is a professional cricket participant. Good entertainers. They have been nice hosts, however their roles have been to make folks snort,” he stated. “And my position was to inform folks what vehicles have been like.”
The Impartial has contacted a consultant of the BBC for remark, in addition to representatives for Flintoff and McGuinness.
Harris stated that the affect of allegedly not having his warnings heeded by the BBC felt as if they’d “left him to rot”.
“It’s very tough to dwell with that originally for me. Once I knew, I assumed I’d executed the fitting factor. I’m not excellent at that. I usually simply glide, however I noticed this coming. I assumed I did the fitting factor,” he stated.
“I went to the BBC, and I discovered actually that nobody had taken me very severely. I did a little bit of digging afterwards. The dialog I had with these folks was kind of acknowledged. Then they tried to kind of shut me down a bit. After which they didn’t take care of me in any respect. They simply kind of left me to rot.”
Almost two years after the incident, Harris stated he’s nonetheless “completely perplexed by the entire thing”.
“To really say to an organisation, that is going to go flawed, after which be there the day that it goes flawed is a place I by no means anticipated to be in, and I by no means need to be in once more,” he stated. “It’s unusual and fairly heartbreaking in some ways. I like that present.”
He stated that after the crash, “the whole lot went quiet” and he didn’t “have a lot contact” with the BBC.
“They’d two inquiries into the accident commissioned, neither of which I had entry to. I pushed very arduous to have entry to the second and noticed a few of it,” he stated. “A little bit of me thought because the skilled driver, do the members of the general public assume that I didn’t do sufficient to guard Andrew? And Paddy as effectively.
“They each skilled different incidents on that present that I feel have been unacceptable. And that’s coming as somebody who loves a little bit of threat.”
Harris recalled one other “harmful” incident that occurred in Thailand when he and co-host Paddy McGuinness competed in a go-kart race down a hill.
“I simply checked out [the producers], and I stated, it’s not a query of whether or not we get injured. It’s how injured we get,” he stated. “I stated to have an ambulance on the backside as a result of one thing’s going to go flawed.
“Certain sufficient, I broke one thing in my hand, and broke a finger or what have you ever. I at all times stated I don’t thoughts breaking my hand if we get a BAFTA for it or an award, however this was only a sh** skit. It went on an excessive amount of.”
Reiterating his level later, Harris stated: “I look again, a few of the stuff that we did on High Gear, I look again, that was harmful, visually harmful, and positively was in sensible phrases.”
Manufacturing was suspended for the “foreseeable future” within the wake of the accident, with the BBC deeming it inappropriate to proceed. Flintoff acquired £9m in compensation.
Earlier this month, Flintoff shared a house video revealing his full facial accidents as a part of his new BBC sequence Freddie Flintoff’s Subject of Desires on Tour.
“I genuinely shouldn’t be right here after what occurred,” he stated, revealing that he was unable to “simply shake it off” after the crash.
