Former Top Gear host Rory Reid has said he thought the show "wasn't going to end well" when Paddy McGuinness and Andrew 'Freddie’ Flintoff were announced as new presenters.
The 44-year-old motoring journalist said he thought the stars’ arrival on the show was "an exciting development" for Top Gear, but added he did not think they had the driving experience to "be able to do some of the things the BBC was asking me to do".
TV presenter and former England cricketer Flintoff, 46, was badly hurt in an accident while filming at Dunsfold Aerodrome in December 2022, which led to the show being rested for the "foreseeable future" by the BBC.
Reid was asked on Times Radio if he felt putting stars from TV and sport in the Top Gear driving seat "could be a problem". He replied: "Absolutely instantly, it was the first thing I thought other than this is an exciting development for the show and I’m interested to see how this turns out.
"The first thing I thought was these men, who I’ve been lucky enough to watch on their entertainment journeys and sports journeys, who are fabulous at what they do, I don’t think they have the driving experience to the level where they would be able to do some of the things the BBC asked me to do.
"Let’s put it that way, whether the BBC gave them the added tuition and time and looked after them enough to be able to put them into those situations, where they would feel comfortable and safe, that’s not for me to say because I wasn’t there.
"But based on my experience, if you asked me whether putting someone without that level of driving experience in those situations and whether it would end well?
"I didn’t think it was going to end well. That was my first ever thought having heard about who would be on the show."
He went on to say that he felt the show was "occasionally inherently dangerous" and revealed that he had asked the BBC for additional training.
He said: "The first thing I’d say is that the show is occasionally inherently dangerous just by nature of the fact that you are driving heavy machinery, very fast cars, very powerful cars, very quickly in a way that makes them look good on TV.
"So, this is not people just jumping into a car and going 30 miles an hour on the road. This is driving them in a way that is exciting and fun.
"And it is quite difficult to do that if you don’t have a background in driving cars very quickly and understand the kind of driving dynamics and things that can go right and wrong very quickly.
"So, you know, and when you combine that with the fact that I think BBC and Top Gear in particular want to make the show look fun and look very exciting, then there is a tendency or a potential for things to go wrong very quickly."
Speaking about asking for further training, he added: "At one point, I sat back and I said to myself, I don’t think they know enough about my driving capability.
"And that and they’re pushing me to a point where I feel I need to be better equipped to deal with some of the things they’re asking me to do.
"So, I was actually the one who asked them to give me extra training. I think in my second series, I said, listen, can you give me some extra tuition on the specific stunts that you asked us to do during this show.
"And eventually, they gave me a couple of hours with a stunt driver to practise some of the manoeuvres that they occasionally ask us to do.
"But no, there’s no driving lesson when you join the show, they don’t sit you down and give you a five-day course in high-performance driving, they expect you to be able to do what they ask you to do."
It is understood the BBC made presenters undertake driving assessments before they were invited to join Top Gear, and then later given further training.
The BBC says all three of the show’s most recent presenters had gained international racing and commercial HGV licences during their time on the show.
A BBC Studios statement said: "The independent health and safety production review of Top Gear, which looked at previous seasons, found that while BBC Studios had complied with the required BBC policies and industry best practice in making the show, there were important learnings which would need to be rigorously applied to future Top Gear UK productions.
"The report included a number of recommendations to improve approaches to safety as Top Gear is a complex programme-making environment routinely navigating tight filming schedules and ambitious editorial expectations - challenges often experienced by long-running shows with an established on and off-screen team.
"Learnings included a detailed action plan involving changes in the ways of working, such as increased clarity on roles and responsibilities and better communication between teams for any future Top Gear production."
The BBC initially released the statement in response to the independent health and safety review of Top Gear in November 2023.
It comes after former presenter Chris Harris told the Joe Rogan Experience podcast that he warned the BBC "someone’s going to die on this show" prior to Flintoff’s crash.
Source: Press Association
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