‘I LOVE MY WEIRD RELATIONSHIP WITH AUSTRALIA’
The English cricket star is honoured to be on Aussie TV
Father-of-four Freddie Flintoff has enjoyed a stellar international cricket career for England, but these days he’s on the sideline for a very different sport. The fast bowler is now an obstacle expert for Australian Ninja Warrior and it’s a job he never expected to have! Ahead of the new season, the I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! star tells Woman’s Day there’s nothing he loves more than Aussie spirit, and this season is set to test the Ninjas like never before.
Besides being one of the most fun shows on TV, what do you love most about
Ninja Warrior? It’s the different characters who come on the show. Obviously we have the ones everyone expects to do well and get round the course easily but it’s some of the underdogs that make the best TV. I honestly just love seeing people test themselves!
At the height of your cricket career did you expect to be on Aussie TV? What do you like most about working in Oz?
I didn’t expect to be on TV, let alone Aussie TV! I have a strange relationship with Australia... I played cricket against them and did alright and it somehow grew to a bit of a rivalry! Thankfully, it spawned a bit of a career and I’m under no illusions that without Australia I’d be doing none of this.
Funny you say that, because it’s almost like you’re the only English cricket player we’re allowed to like!
That’s actually the biggest compliment! The funny thing is, when you do well against Australia they all say, “Oh yeah, he’s one of ours,” but I’m not. I’m from Preston. I’m from the north of England. I value the Australian spirit and the
Aussie values. I think what the Aussie public are brilliant at is if they see someone having a go, they get behind them. Whether they fail or make mistakes, they can accept that – they just love that spirit of someone really having a go at something and I think that’s one thing that’s worked for me.
Do you bring the kids to Melbourne during filming, and do they like Aussie culture?
They’ve never had the chance to come to filming but they have been to Australia a few times, especially the older ones, when I was playing cricket and then a couple of years back for the Big Bash held in Brisbane. The kids would love to come and visit and watch the show but they have school. We always talk about coming down to Australia for Christmas – we love it!
What’s the one thing about Australia you’ll never understand?
Just Aussies in general! One thing that makes me smile every time is when an Aussie finishes a sentence and their voice goes up at the end of it. It never fails to make me smile! But the funny thing is, as a kid, Neighbours
and Home And Away
were so big at home and everybody watched them. Everyone wanted to go to Australia and meet an Aussie. You’d watch it and think you knew them because you’ve seen Joe Mangel [Mark Little] and you think I’ll probably fit right in – it’s interesting! AUSTRALIAN NINJA WARRIOR, Sunday, 7.30pm, Nine