Rory Reid feared Freddie Flintoff and Paddy McGuinness were too inexperienced for Top Gear

Rory Reid feared things on 'Top Gear' "wouldn't end well" when Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff and Paddy McGuinness were hired.

The 44-year-old star - who was a co-host on the show from 2016 to 2019 - thought it was "exciting" when the cricketer and the 'Take Me Out' host were unveiled as the new main presenters of the programme but was also concerned about their lack of driving experience.

He told Times Radio: "Absolutely instantly, it was the first thing I thought other than this is an exciting development for the show and I'm interested to see how this turns out.

"The first thing I thought was these men, who I've been lucky enough to watch on their entertainment journeys and sports journeys, who are fabulous at what they do, I don't think they have the driving experience to the level where they would be able to do some of the things the BBC asked me to do."

Rory insisted it "wasn't for [him] to say" if the BBC gave them extra tuition and care away from filming to make the stars "comfortable and safe" because he wasn't there.

But he added: “But based on my experience, if you asked me whether putting someone without that level of driving experience in those situations and whether it would end well…? No."

The motoring expert had asked for extra training himself to be "better equipped" on the show.

He said: "I was actually the one who asked them to give me extra training.

“I think in my second series, I said, ‘listen, can you give me some extra tuition on the specific stunts that you asked us to do during this show?’. And eventually, they gave me a couple of hours with a stunt driver to practise some of the manoeuvres that they occasionally ask us to do.

“But no, there's no driving lesson when you join the show, they don't sit you down and give you a five-day course in high-performance driving, they expect you to be able to do what they ask you to do."

In December 2022, Freddie was left with permanent scarring and trauma following an accident during filming, and the show hasn't aired since.