EXC: Paddy McGuinness laughs off his Top Gear car crash as ‘a nice moment’

Paddy McGuinness has laughed off his car crash in a £250k 1990 Lamborghini Diablo in June as a ‘nice moment’ for Top Gear.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline alongside his co-hosts Freddie Flintoff and Chris Harris, the TV presenter, 47, claimed losing control of the supercar made the show’s new season ‘better’.

Seeing the funny side of the incident, he explained: ‘I had an off-road incident in a Lamborghini this series, which was a first in three series I like to remind Fred of that. 

‘But I think sometimes things happen in an episode and it kind of works out better, because I think seeing the Jaguar [that Freddie drives in the episode] do its 200 miles an hour and me and Chris looking at the monitor, I don’t know, the film felt better for that. 

‘If that Lamborghini hadn’t gone off the road and all three of us were on the track then I don’t know what the dynamic would have been, I don’t know what would have happened, but it [was] a really nice moment for the show.’

Freddie asked if Paddy meant he crashed ‘on purpose for the film’, to which his co-host joked that he had, and added: ‘These selfless acts, I don’t like to talk about it, but as I’m being asked I will do.’

Despite making light of the situation, Paddy admitted he felt the need to call wife Christine ‘instantly’ as there were a lot of fans watching him shoot the segment who were filming on their phones, and he was concerned she would worry unnecessarily. 

In the new season, Freddie, Chris and Paddy also try out a Wall Of Death at the Alexandra Palace in London, which is one of their most dangerous stunts yet.

Of putting their lives at risk for the show, Chris admitted: ‘I wouldn’t want to do more than one of those in a series if I’m honest with you, just for my own well-being. 

‘There were quite a few scrapes and a good few hits that keep your spine awake, let’s say. It’s always going to be a bit rough and tumble isn’t it? 

‘If we’re not exposing ourselves to a bit of jeopardy and danger then we’re not doing our jobs. People want to see us getting into scrapes and having the odd knock.’

Freddie, who has quickly become known for doing the most dangerous stunts on the show, went on: ‘I did the bungee last series which was hard, I say that but you just fall don’t you?

‘But then the wall of death was different, we drove into the Ally Pally and saw this structure which had been built which was unbelievable, it was convincing yourself that you could get a car up there and there was more skill involved, so that was up there. 

‘Driving the Jaguar 200 miles-an-hour, a 30-year-old supercar for me got the beans going as well.’ 

However, he claimed he doesn’t tell his family about some of his more dangerous stunts until after they have been filmed as it’s a ‘worry they don’t need.’

Giving an example from the new season, he said: ‘For me it was the wall of death, the name says it all really. What’re you doing today? Wall of death.

‘It’s not because they won’t back you or anything, it’s just the worry they don’t need. They’re going about their lives and you just tell them when you get home. 

‘It’s strange I think for the kids, because they see all their mates’ dads and that going to work in their suits and they’ve got a 9-5, and they say “what’re you doing today dad?” And you go, “well you know just going to bungee off a dam in Switzerland, or I’m going to drive through Nepal on roads”. 

‘So you try and protect them a little bit from the worry, but when they watch it then everything is good.’   

The new season of Top Gear finds Paddy, Freddie, and Chris grappling with new social distancing rules post-lockdown following the opening episode, which was filmed prior to the coronavirus crisis.

Despite this, the trio and the show’s crew banded together to make sure they could continue filming safely, and even introduced a drive-in cinema style format so that audience members could still take part.

Chris admitted they were initially concerned: ‘I think we were all a bit worried about post-COVID filming meant, but actually the production team did such a good job of finding new solutions for the way we went about things that those worries disappeared immediately.

‘It was like we were back filming how we normally would, we can’t do three of us in one car together which I think is a shame, we do get our stronger material from doing that, but that’s just the way it is. 

‘We’re blessed it’s a show that’s one of the easier things to make television wise with the new social distancing rules. 

‘As for the drive-in cinema thing we were a couple of minutes in and were thinking why didn’t we do this two years ago?’

Freddie concurred, as he admitted it gave them ‘a lot of access’ that they didn’t have before: ‘Obviously with the drive-in it gives you a chance to change it up, and it seems obvious really. It’s Top Gear, so let’s do a drive-in, and the scale it was to do it was amazing. 

‘Even with some of the films, the first day after lockdown we worked everyone was excited to get in because it was at Alton Towers. We could race cars around Old Trafford which I thought was amazing. 

‘So, bizarrely, obviously with lockdown and COVID it’s been terrible but it has also opened up a few opportunities for us. 

‘The big thing is we got a chance to stay in the UK a bit more and show off our own country which is beautiful, but we did managed to get the Cyprus trip in before it all started. Hopefully you won’t see too much difference!’

Paddy, Freddie and Chris have quite the fun dynamic together on-screen, and the trio reassured fans that their amusing banter is still strong despite having to remain socially distanced whilst filming.

Of finding new ways to annoy each other, Paddy joked: ‘We don’t have to do much thinking to do that to be honest, we kinda do that regardless! But, it’s lovely now. 

‘We are three series in of us, and we’re working on stuff for series four now and it now just feels really natural. 

‘You know when someone is having an off day and you can leave them alone for a bit, and you know when they’re fair game, and we have that sense amongst us now so we just go along with it.’

Chris added that he felt they had a ‘good mix’ when it came to their playful banter on set, as he said: ‘We do hammer each other but that’s the whole point, isn’t it?

‘You want to hammer each other, but if someone is really in a pickle then of course we stand by them. 

‘But I’ve also learned that distancing doesn’t make a difference, I can annoy people from a distance, I can walk into a room and just by the look on my face annoy McGuinness and that’s something I’m very proud of.’

Freddie admitted that they had a great working relationship from the get go, as he went on: ‘I remember we did a practice day of filming on the first day, it was the first time we got together but it didn’t feel like the first time we’d worked together.

‘It just seemed to happen, I don’t know if that was just us, or good casting or whatever, but it didn’t feel like we were just getting to know each other, we just hit the ground running.’

Going on to discuss how travel restrictions amid the global pandemic has meant they have to keep filming in the UK, Chris claimed: ‘I think a break from getting on airplanes the whole time was quite welcome, for me and probably for the other two as well. 

‘The UK is littered with amazing locations, great roads, it’s actually refreshing to celebrate our own country for once. 

‘I think Top Gear has been slightly drawn into becoming a show that needs to outdo itself each series over the last five, ten years and it becomes quite difficult.

‘When you’ve been to Ethiopia, Nepal, Peru and all of those incredible places… to keep going to evermore exotic and far-flung places is a bit of a stretch for everyone.

‘So, I think the reset has been great. I’ve really enjoyed filming in the UK so let’s do some more of it.’

Top Gear returns to BBC One on Sunday October 4, at 8pm.