Top Gear’s stars say they feel lucky to be alive.
Freddie Flintoff, Chris Harris and Paddy McGuinness found themselves in serious danger while filming their latest series.
During a jaunt in Britain, they became HGV drivers.
Health and safety advisors had warned the trio they should scrap the stunt because of extreme weather.
But they went ahead anyway, risking their lives in the process.
Paddy, 48, said: “This was totally alien for all of us… to be in a vehicle so big and so powerful.
“When you put your foot down, you’re going at 100mph plus. What made it even harder was that we were right in the middle of the big storm.
“They said nobody should go out on the road and we were hurtling around in these high-sided HGVs.
“It was a thrilling thing to see in the flesh, but I feel glad to have survived that one actually.”
Freddie, 44, also took on a death-defying challenge on his own that saw him go down a bobsleigh track in a Sinclair C5 tricycle.
The former cricketer is used to doing daring stunts for the show, but even he was nervous with this one.
He said: “This year they’ve been upping the stakes. I was thrown in at the deep end. When you’re waiting to go, you’re thinking, ‘I have no idea what will happen’.
“Part of that is frightening, and part of that is brilliant! Then you trundle down the ramp and you’re off.
You’re pulling levers and hoping you’re doing the right thing. It really took some handling. It was stupid – it was like driving a car very fast on a tight track where you weren’t quite sure where you were going.”
The team also jetted to Miami in Florida to film a special episode about grassroots racing.
And they investigate the motors of the future that run on batteries, hydrogen and synthetic petrol.
All three put their safety on the line during filming, but it’s Freddie who always gets to do the biggest stunts because he is so fearless.
Paddy said: “Chris and I don’t do all the challenges because we are rational human beings.
“The producers don’t even put them to us. I think they just have a pile on the desk of stuff most people wouldn’t even think of doing – The Freddie Pile.
“To be fair, I’ve never seen him turn anything down. He always gives it a go.”
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