Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff returns to television screens on Tuesday, July 5 as he hosts Freddie Flintoff's Field of Dreams. The prime-time BBC series sees the former Lancashire and England cricketer and current Top Gear co-host aiming to prove that anyone can play the sport, whatever their background.
But while Freddie has had a remarkable sporting career he's also faced his own demons, including bulimia, and during an interview with Lorraine Kelly recently, Freddie briefly talked about his mental health. He told Lorraine: "I spoke about depression 10 years ago and when I was doing it, I was really nervous about it." He emphasised he's now comfortable about talking about mental health and called it "a part of [him] but not something that defines [him]".
In 2017, during an interview with GQ Magazine, Freddie said: “I feel as easy talking about the weather as I do about mental heath.” He added that his he "doesn’t know" when he had his first outburst of depression but it was something that he experienced "well before [he] retired”.
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The former cricketer and broadcaster’s battles with depression and bulimia previously came to the media’s attention in 2012 during the documentary, Freddie Flintoff: Hidden Side. During the film, he talked at length about the pressures that he felt as Captain of England and chatted with other sporting stars who felt the same.
In 2020, Freddie came forward about his battles with bulimia in the BBC documentary, Freddie Flintoff: Living With Bulimia. People with bulimia may secretly binge — eating large amounts of food with a loss of control over the eating — and then purge, trying to get rid of the extra calories in an unhealthy way. In the documentary, he talked about how he has lived with the disorder for over 20 years. “This is such a hard thing to even define or admit,” Freddie said as he referred to his struggles.
During the film, he talks to other bulimia sufferers and seeks out the best course of treatment for it. “It’s not right is it? I know it’s not right,” he bravely declared. Freddie’s admission, itself, was praised for ‘saving lives' by those who saw the film. Since the documentary, Freddie has confirmed that he has had a "different relationship" with mental health.
During an appearance on Piers Morgan’s Life Stories in 2014, Freddie cites the media as a trigger for his bulimia. “I did it because if I’d eaten something where I thought that I’d put weight on or had too much to drink, that’s when it started,” he told Piers as he said that the habit "crept in more and more".
Since becoming vocal about his own battles, Freddie has become somewhat of an ambassador for mental health and, in particular, encouraging others to also talk about their own struggles. “I knew that something wasn’t right for a long time and I ran away from it,” he told Professor Green in an campaign for charity, Heads Together. He describes how he was "living differently" which led him on a path towards alcohol and food. It was following his original BBC documentary about mental health that he began to seek support for his own issues.
Freddie, who retired from international cricket in 2009 has since found fame as a presenter and broadcaster. When chatting to Lorraine, he said that he "doesn’t know what to label" himself. Some of his more famous television roles include as a team captain on A League of Their Own with James Corden and, of course, a presenter on Top Gear opposite Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris. His appearance on the racing show has received widespread acclaim.
