Who is Freddie Flintoff? The story of the Preston cricketer and TV star from 1977 to 2024

Early life

Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff was born on December 6 1977 in Preston to Colin and Susan Flintoff.

As a child, he attended Greenlands Community Primary School and then Ribbleton Hall High School which he left age 16 with nine GCSE’s.

Whilst at school he earned the nickname ‘Freddie’ due to his surname resembling that of the cartoon character Fred Flintstone.

He also played cricket for the Lancashire Schools under-11s and under-15s teams before playingfor two and a half years in the England under-19 cricket team.

Cricket career

Born in Preston on December 6 1977, his sporting career saw him take part in several international cricket tours with England youth teams before making his debut for Lancashire in 1995.

In 1999 he made his senior international debut against Pakistan, scoring 50, and later that year became the first Lancashire player to score a century before lunch in a Roses match against Yorkshire.

After helping England clinch the Ashes in 2005, Freddie was named man of the series and jointly awarded the ICC’s Cricketer of the Year award, before winning BBC Sports Personality Of The Year.

That year, he also married Rachael Wools who he went on to have four children with.

In 2006, Freddie was also made an MBE by Queen and named man of the Test series in India.

After undergoing ankle surgery Freddie was named England captain for the Ashes tour of Australia, but was replaced by Michael Vaughan after a 5-0 Test whitewash.

Freddie was re-appointed captain in January 2007 and he went on to lead the team to victory in the Cricket World Cup.

In 2009, Freddie ended his England career on a high, helping the team defeat Australia to seal a 2-1 Ashes series win.

He retired from professional cricket in 2010, having consulted with medical advisors, but returned briefly in 2014 to play Twenty20 for Lancashire.

Flintoff becomes a familiar face on television

After his cricket career ended, Freddie began taking part in reality and panel shows and appeared as the face of Morrisons.

In 2010 he became a team captain on Sky’s A League Of Their Own, and in 2012 the BBC aired a documentary he produced titled Freddie Flintoff: Hidden Side Of Sport in which he spoke to sporting professionals about the serious effects of depression, and confronted his own issues while England captain.

Freddie was then crowned king of the jungle in the first series of the Australian version of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in 2015.

After appearing in the BBC drama Love, Lies And Records in 2017, he made his musical theatre debut in Kay Mellor’s Fat Friends The Musical and hosted All Star Musicals for ITV in December the same year.

Top Gear career

Freddie was announced as the new host of Top Gear in October 2018 alongside Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris for the BBC show’s 27th series.

In February 2019, Flintoff was involved in a minor car incident when he crashed into a market stall in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, and in September of the same year, he crashed during a 124mph drag race while filming at Elvington Airfield in Yorkshire, but walked away unharmed.

During his Top Gear tenure, Freddie revealed in a 2020 documentary he had developed the eating disorder bulimia nervosa while trying to keep up with his slimmer, fitter teammates during his cricket career, prompted by scrutiny from fans, the press and colleagues.

Freddie Flintoff On Bulimia, which saw him meet experts and male sufferers, was hailed for offering a better understanding of what it means to be a man with an eating disorder.

The father-of-four also presented a BBC TV show in 2022 called ‘Field of Dream’s which saw him build a cricket team out of disadvanatged teens from across Preston.

In December 13 2022, Freddie suffered a crash whilst filming Top Gear at Dunsfold Park Aerodrome , leaving him with facial injuries and several broken ribs.

The Preston star stepped down from his presenting role on Top Gear in March 2023.

Post Top Gear career

During the summer of 2023, Freddie made a return to the cricketing world as he linked up with the England Cricket Team in an unpaid mentorship capacity before the World Cup.

In November 2023, he then made his biggest step yet in returning to the sport that made him as he is confirmed as the new head coach of the Leeds based cricket team Northern Superchargers in next summer’s The Hundred.

A month later, Freddie rejoins England's backroom staff for their T20 series against West Indies as a paid team mentor.

In summer 2024 'Freddie Flintoff's Field of Dreams on Tour' aired on the BBC in which the Preston star opened up about how his Top Gear crash affected him then and to this day, admitting it has left him with anxiety, nightmares and flashbacks.

In October it was announced that Freddie will host a reboot of the beloved British game show Bullseye for a Christmas special.