Freddie Flintoff will star in a new BBC project after Top Gear was axed following his horror crash. The popular ex-cricketer, who played for Lancashire and England during his career, has also agreed a multimillion payout with the BBC since the shocking incident back in December.

It was revealed today that Flintoff would star in a "new project" to come. “Given the exceptional circumstances, the BBC has decided to rest the UK show for the foreseeable future," the Beeb said. “The BBC remains committed to Freddie, Chris [Harris] and Paddy [McGuinness] who have been at the heart of the show’s renaissance since 2019, and we’re excited about new projects being developed with each of them.

“We will have more to say in the near future on this. We know resting the show will be disappointing news for fans, but it is the right thing to do. All other Top Gear activity remains unaffected by this hiatus including international formats, digital, magazines and licensing.”

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Flintoff joined BBC One’s Top Gear as a host in 2019 alongside McGuinness and Harris. Their most recent series attracted an average audience of 4.5 million viewers. The former England cricket captain, 45, appeared with facial injuries in public for the first time in September, nine months after he was taken to hospital after he was hurt while filming the BBC motoring show at its test track at Dunsfold Aerodrome last December.

The settlement is worth £9m and both Flintoff and the BBC are “satisfied” with the agreement. A BBC Studios spokesperson said: “BBC Studios has reached an agreement with Freddie that we believe supports his continued rehabilitation, return to work and future plans.

“We have sincerely apologised to Freddie and will continue to support him with his recovery.” His other shows with the BBC include Andrew Flintoff’s Field of Dreams, where he embarked on a mission to find cricketing talent in his home town of Preston.