Paddy McGuinness has claimed that his Top Gear co-star Freddie Flintoff warned him not to host Question of Sport.
After Sue Barker, 66, stood down after 24 years as host of the BBC programme, the Take Me Out actor, 49, takes over in 2021.
‘I love the fiercely competitive nature of sports stars combined with having a laugh,’ Paddy said at the time. ‘That’s why A Question Of Sport has always been one of my favourite shows, and having grown up watching it, this is an honour and opportunity I’m not going to pass up.’
‘I grew up with both Davids hosting but it’s Sue who made this show her own. She will always be A Question Of Sport icon, but I’ll try my best to stamp my own mark on it.’
However, he’s now revealed he was warned ahead of taking it.
‘For me personally, the pressure I felt, I felt it more for A Question of Sport than Top Gear,’ Paddy said.
‘I remember Freddie, when I got the job, he rang me up and he said, “Oh God, be careful”.’
He continued on The Monday Mile podcast: ‘We were talking about how it can be talked about online and stuff. He said he stood in on a sports breakfast show, I don’t know which one it were but he stood in for a month and he said the abuse he got.
‘He said, “I’m an ex-sports person, Ashes and all that, and even I got abuse!” So there’s something about sport. People get a bit militant.’
Paddy felt the same way when he joined Top Gear alongside Freddie and Chris Harris, replacing Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May.
He said: ‘I love Top Gear. I had nothing to do with the show. I’d never been on it as a guest, nothing. I knew it caused a lot of friction on Twitter, but listen, what doesn’t?
‘You’ve got to go for it. I’ve always kept this philosophy of if it’s offered to you, and you think it’s within your realms of possibility doing it, then just go for it. Because why regret it later on in life, you know?’
According to sources, the future of Top Gear has still to be decided after Freddie was taken to hospital on December 13 after being involved in an accident while filming for the iconic motoring programme at the Top Gear test track at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey.
Filming for the new series has already been suspended, with sources claiming that Freddie is “quitting the show.”
A Question of Sport and Top Gear are both available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
Source My Celebrity Life.