Paddy McGuinness gives update on Top Gear after BBC show was axed following Freddie Flintoff horror crash
THE Beeb’s hugely successful Road Tripping series saw former Top Gear hosts Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris back behind the wheel together.
But despite the parallels with their old motoring show, which was cancelled after co-host Freddie Flintoff's horrific 2022 crash during filming, Paddy insists the pair’s travelogue was never intended to imitate it.
And he says he could never do the beloved show without his old mate Fred by his side.
Paddy said: “If we were doing Top Gear, just me and Chris without Fred, then that would be a problem.
“I’d be thinking to myself, ‘Bloody hell, where’s the big lad?’.
“The thing with me, Chris and Fred, which showed on Top Gear, we had a really great chemistry and we all got on really well. We still do. I know for a fact that if Fred wanted to come along on that road trip, there wouldn’t be any problems — we’d do it.
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“And if the three of us ended up doing Top Gear again, we’d do it.”
But what about a second series of Paddy And Chris: Road Tripping?
Paddy won’t say too much, but does concede: “We’re talking about it now.”
Paddy’s current show, Inside The Factory on BBC One, shows him getting back behind the wheel of another vehicle — a lorry transporting thousands of loaves.
On tonight’s episode he visits the plant where they make Warburtons bread in his home town of Bolton — a place he worked at as a teenager.
And going back was a defining moment.
Paddy said: “There was a moment when I was driving this HGV, and I’d got the licence for it because I’d hosted Top Gear.
“Then I’m going into a factory where I’m hosting another show, and I used to work here aged 16 cleaning the machines.
“That lad would not have dreamed in a million years that would have happened. So it was a really lovely moment for me.
“Two of my mates I went to school with, who I worked there with on a Saturday, they were still there.
“It is one of them places, Warburtons in Bolton, it’s a proper part of the community and everyone’s got a relative or a friend who’s worked there.
“I never think about anything I’ve ever done, and I never sit back and think, ‘Oh I’ve done this and this’.
“But I really did kinda think to myself, ‘You’ve not done too bad’.”
Get your fill of Phil
THE frenzied family life of former footballer Phil Bardsley will be captured in a new At Home With . . . show on ITVBe and ITVX.
The ex-Sunderland player, who started his career at Manchester United, leads a wild existence with wife Tanya, a former glamour model, with whom he shares children Rocco, Renz, Ralphi and Gabriella.
Out in spring, it promises to be great entertainment, not least because the couple say they’re always having sex.
Talking in 2022, Tanya said: “We still manage it every day, we just have to grab it when we can, like, ‘Quick, quick, quick!’.
“We’re quite lucky we have a house that has four floors so it’s easier to get away and we’ve got places to escape to. Like the bog!”
Phil, who is now assistant manager at Macclesfield, once held down eight-year-old son Ralphi and pretended to wash his mouth out with shampoo after he told his brother to “f*** off”.
He also famously knocked out Wayne Rooney after a drunken sparring session went wrong.
Phil has also got one over on his old mate again with this series because it had been rumoured the Rooneys would be getting their own At Home With . . . show.
Prue dunnit?
GREAT British Bake Off judge Prue Leith loved appearing on ITV’s The Masked Singer at the weekend because her Pegasus outfit was rather flattering.
She told Heart Radio’s breakfast show: “It came in at the waist as this lovely dress – it made my boobs absolutely enormous.”
Pete: I'm tailed by Sam
STRICTLY’S Pete Wicks says he is like a nervous dog without his best mate Sam Thompson by his side.
The Towie hunk adds that without the Made In Chelsea star’s support, he lacks confidence.
In his new TV series For Dogs’ Sake, which airs tonight on U&W, Pete compares himself to a young Dobermann called Olive who gets brought into an Essex rehoming centre.
He says: “I always feel more confident when I’m with my mate Sam – but don’t tell him that, though. So like me, if Olive can make friends it might make her brave enough to follow them anywhere – even through doorways.”
Fan vote for soap plotline
IN an interactive first for the soap, EastEnders viewers will get to decide whether Denise Fox reunites with estranged husband Jack or picks secret lover Ravi Gulati instead.
Fans will get to vote for their choice as part of the show’s 40th birthday celebrations – with the outcome being revealed during a special live episode in anniversary week.
Last year, Denise and Jack’s tumultuous marriage fell apart when it was revealed that he had been having an affair with Stacey Slater.
However, since then, Jack and Denise have given in to passion a few times and shared plenty of warm moments as part of their blended family.
But Denise’s secret romance with Ravi has been hotting up since they had a romantic encounter on Christmas Day.
Denise first fell into Ravi’s arms in 2023 when her marriage to Jack was deteriorating.
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Their affair was eventually exposed in explosive scenes.
The love triangle is even more complicated due to Ravi’s troubled past and the fact he used to be in a serious relationship with Denise’s daughter Chelsea.