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Top Gear’s The Stig has revealed his identity by sharing that he almost died in the Freddie Flintoff car crash, which he said left him with a broken back.

Paul Rees – the ex-Formula 2 and Porsche Supercup driver –  was the BBC show’s anonymous helmet-wearing driver from 2019, and he was in the car that flipped with Flintoff while filming at Surrey’s Dunsfold Aerodrome in 2022. He is suing the BBC for damages, with the broadcaster strenuously denying negligence.

Rees, 41, has reflected on the accident in a new interview, claiming he “genuinely felt like we were going to potentially die, because we had no protection”.

Paul Reese – The Stig on ‘Top Gear’ – says he thought he would die in car crash while filming show (Wiki Commons)

The driver said, like Flintoff, he has been left with PTSD after the crash and “still has no idea” how he survived, considering the three-wheeler vehicle – a Morgan Super 3 – had no roof, and he was wearing no helmet.

“I was acutely aware the only thing holding my head off the tarmac was Fred’s head,” Rees told The Sun of the moment they hit the road. “My vision went red. I now know that was blood from Fred spraying me in the face”

Rees claimed he was asked to join Flintoff in the vehicle as the presenter wasn’t considered “dynamic enough” to pull off a challenging corner on the track – and that he had “highlighted the risks from the very start”.

However, he has alleged: “We were not listened to by the BBC.”

“I remember thinking that if we can get out of this and be in wheelchairs, we’re lucky. It was a terrifying thought,” Rees said. “Everything goes in slow motion.”

Paul Rees, 41, claims he ‘highlighted risks from the very start’ (Instagram)

Rees claimed he was rushed to hospital after a two-hour wait, having been allegedly told by a solo medic on site: “I’m not equipped for this.” He was given the all-clear, but found out a year later that he’d broken his back.

While Flintoff, who was airlifted to hospital with severe injuries and in need of reconstructive facial surgeries, reached a reported £9m financial settlement in 2023, Rees is the stuntman who recently sued the BBC for damages, claiming an excess of £100,000.

A BBC Studios spokesperson said: “We dispute this claim and are defending it. As it’s now before the courts, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

In court documents obtained by The Independent, the BBC strenuously denied any negligence, writing that the “manoeuvre was not unacceptably dangerous” and “simply needed to be carried out with proper instruction”.

They added that Rees “expressed no concerns or reluctance about driving the Morgan” ahead of time, and state that an in-car microphone picked up him telling Flintoff to go “full power” when approaching the corner, shortly after the presenter expressed concern the car could roll when the front wheel lifted.

Rees recalled of his conversation with Flintoff: “I said to him, like, power, power, power, power. He’s given it a load of power, which is what we did the time before. And suddenly, because it had this low scoop and I had my arm hanging out the side, the next thing I know we are on top of my arm sliding down the runway.

“We’re effectively just inverting with our faces going straight towards the tarmac, and then we’re upside down. It’s because Fred had taken the impact.”

Freddie Flintoff was left needing facial reconstruction surgery after near-fatal ‘Top Gear’ crash (Disney+)

The Independent understands that Rees was given comprehensive medical, legal and welfare support following the crash.

In 2025, former cricketer Flintoff revealed that he was conscious throughout the crash and still remembers everything about it.

“It was in a car where I was exposed from pretty much ear up and no helmet on,” he said. “And as it went over, it was like, ‘I got a decision I need to make here.’

“I thought, ‘I’m right-handed’. So I just gripped out of my right and [tried] to brace a little bit with my left one... I got dragged out and under the car, and it turned out obviously not ideal, but I was alive,” he said.

“And possibly in that moment, that’s probably what saved me. So I’m thankful of that. The hardest bit was not knowing what I looked like. ‘Is my face still on that runway, or what’s left of it?’”

Flintoff, 48, continued by saying that he’s “still a work in progress”, but that the crash “changed things a hell of a lot” for him. He added in Disney+ documentary Flintoff: “After the accident, I didn’t think I had it in me to get through. This sounds awful: part of me wishes I had been killed. Part of me thinks, ‘I wish I had died.’

“I didn’t want to kill myself – don’t mistake the two things – but I was thinking: ‘This would have been so much easier.’”

The BBC confirmed to The Independent that Top Gear was being rested for the foreseeable future “given the exceptional circumstances”.

‘Top Gear’ hosts Paddy McGuinness, Chris Hughes and Flintoff (PA)

It said they remain committed to hosts Flintoff, Chris Hughes and Paddy McGuinness and are “excited about new projects being developed with each of them”.

Since the show started in 2002, the Stig has been variously portrayed by Formula 1 driver Perry McCarthy, stuntman Ben Collins, pro driver Phil Keen and Rees.