Top Gear in turmoil as show boss QUITS just months after Freddie Flintoff exit over horror crash
TOP Gear has been thrown into turmoil as the show’s boss has quit just months after Freddie Flintoff’s crash
The show’s editorial director Clare Pizey only took up her post last March but has now stepped down.
The news has thrown the future of the iconic BBC programme into doubt.
A former staff member told The Times: “Everyone is assuming that it’s over for Top Gear now Clare has left.”
Meanwhile, a BBC executive said the departure was a “big blow” to the show.
They added: “I’m not sure it quite signals the end for Top Gear but it’s definitely on life support.”
It comes after former cricket star Flintoff also reportedly made the decision to leave the show.
He made the call in the wake of a nasty crash during filming which left him with horror facial injuries.
The star, 45, was filming a high-speed stunt in a Morgan Super 3 when the three-wheeler flipped and slid along the track.
Flintoff was left in agony for 45 minutes as the crew waited for an air ambulance to arrive.
Insiders say he badly injured his jawbone and broke his ribs.
A damning dossier compiled by The Sun showed that he was not wearing a helmet and that the 130mph car was not fitted with an airbag.
A crew member in the passenger seat is also understood to have been injured.
The BBC has publicly apologised to Flintoff and has conducted an inquiry into the near-fatal crash at Dunsfold Park aerodrome in Surrey.
However, the findings of the probe have not been released.