Freddie Flintoff was called ‘unusual’ by Paddy McGuinness after his alligator encounter

Freddie Flintoff spoke of his attempt to get close to an alligator while filming in the swamp for the BBC series Top Gear, with such antics not surprising co-star Paddy McGuinness

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Freddie Flintoff has recalled trying to get close to an alligator while filming in the swamp for Top Gear, with Paddy McGuinness commenting that his co-star was “not normal”.

The former cricketer, 44, and his co-presenters on the hit BBC racing show have taken an RV trip around the US for the new series – which will return over the weekend.

The experience is understood to have seen the whole group – which includes Freddie as well as co-stars Paddy, 48, and Chris Harris, 47 – make their way through a swamp infested with crocodiles.

And it was revealed that Freddie managed to get quite close to one of the four-legged inhabitants of the swamp, he supposedly wanted to get out of the RV for a closer look.

When asked why he was trying to interact with the creature, he teased Subject line podcast: “I watched Crocodile Dundee, I know what you do. I love wildlife, I find it weird.

“I’m so lucky to have the opportunity to film around the world and I’m just hooked on it. Strange thing [filming Top Gear] Are you getting this uncanny comfort from a TV camera? “

He does admit, however, that it helps deal with an alligator, although his co-star Paddy admits that such antics don’t bother him anymore because he’s not surprised by Freddie.

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Paddy called his co-star Freddie “unusual” and said that once you get used to it, “everything is normal” – before getting together to explain their experience.

He commented: “You feel comfortable in Fred’s world so whatever he does, you go, ‘yes that’s okay, it’s Fred, that’s normal…for him. ‘ and then we all move on.”

The presenter recalled another experience on Top Gear in which they were walking along a mile-high road in Nepal where there was an “absolute fall”.

Paddy said his co-stars weren’t worried about the cliff edge, noting that they were filming for TV. The presenter said he had to remind the former cricketer that it was still real.

He recalls one such conversation, saying that if they strayed from the path, the producers “don’t pause it halfway and come back.” [them] back to top. “

“It’s true, you can’t pause it, you can’t stop a crocodile from dragging you underwater because the BBC is filming it,” Paddy further commented on the recent podcast.

The latest episode of Headliners is available now on BBC Sounds. Top Gear will return with a new series on Sunday (June 5) on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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