Flintoff and co dialling Top Gear down from Jeremy Clarkson days

New hosts Chris Harris, Paddy McGuinness and Freddie Flintoff. Photo / AP

New host Freddie Flintoff tells Ed Power the show has moved on since Jeremy Clarkson.

Having seen episode one, I can report that the new Top Gear is essentially the same as the old Top Gear — minus the terrible denim and Clarkson banging on about cyclists. Ed Power Is Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff the touchy-feely face of a new Top Gear? That was the impression created recently as it was announced that the returning BBC franchise would feature "hugs and nice bits".

This set alarms blaring among some fans of the series. Top Gear is still, in many ways, perceived as having been created in the image of Jeremy Clarkson. If it isn't a bit swaggering and boorish, with jeans hitched too high and beer belly showing, what's even the point?

"I used to watch the old Top Gear and enjoyed it," nods the former England cricket captain, 41, who, with comedian Paddy McGuinness, takes over from Friends star Matt LeBlanc as host. Motoring journalist Chris Harris also returns as Reliant Robin-style third wheel.

Flintoff insists Top Gear will still be about jokes and "banter".

"But humour in the world has changed. I'm all for having a laugh and a joke — but not nasty. There's a fine line with that and I don't think it's one we ever come close to crossing. We're there having a laugh. But also rooting for each other."

Having seen episode one, I can report that the new Top Gear is essentially the same as the old Top Gear, minus the terrible denim and Clarkson banging on about cyclists.

It's certainly an improvement on the most recent incarnation when LeBlanc and Harris trotted the globe with mixed results. Though LeBlanc grew into the gig, initially he was stiffer than the gearbox on a second-hand Cortina.

Flintoff and McGuinness, by contrast, roar off the starter grid. Five minutes in they're hurtling across Ethiopia in a van, poking fun at Harris' claims that his first car doubled as a mobile love nest ("don't pretend you had girls in the car," they hoot). It's a spirited return to that old TG boisterousness.

Flintoff was one of modern cricket's greatest all-rounders. But the skill he learned playing that is most applicable to his new job is, he feels, the ability to keep calm while all around are biting their nails.

The pressure, after all, is immense as he and McGuinness count down to their Top Gear debuts on Monday (NZ time). Well remunerated it might be — McGuinness and Flintoff are rumoured to be earning £500,000 ($970,000) per series — but the job has chewed up and spat out more than one presenter.

When Chris Evans took over from Clarkson in 2016, the backlash was brutal. Within minutes of the credits rolling, it was clear from social media that he was a dead host walking. Viewers found his manic energy off-putting and his interactions with the rest of the team stilted.

Flintoff was just 31 when injury forced him to retire. Affable, with a lightly worn charisma, he was a natural on the airwaves. In 2010, he joined James Corden and footballer Jamie Redknapp on the Sky panel series A League of Their Own, which became a cult success.

"If there was one job on TV I'd always wanted a go at, it was Top Gear."

One thing he does share with Clarkson and company, however, is a passion for cars. He's owned a Ford Mustang and a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, and today drives a Lamborghini Veneno and Range Rover Discovery.

"I prefer cars that are a couple of years old. I'm not big on technology or things like that."