Paddy McGuinness reveals he is kept in the dark about Top Gear stunts
The TV star is returning for his second series of the motoring show later this month.
Top Gear host Paddy McGuinness has said he doesn’t get nervous about his hair-raising stunts on the show because the producers keep them secret in advance.
The presenter and his co-star Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff made their debut on BBC Two’s motoring programme last year, alongside returning host Chris Harris, and the trio are now returning for a new series.
Asked if he battles the butterflies before tackling stunts, McGuinness said: “No – because the producers don’t tell us about them in advance.
“They don’t give you the option.
“If they told you beforehand, ‘You’re going to drive this road and it’s really high up and windy,’ you might say, ‘Oh I don’t fancy that.’
“But you just come to it in a car, so you can’t do anything else. You have got to drive it. When you are there you are that in it, you just do it.”
McGuinness said when he watches some of the shows back he realises the extent of what he has done.
He said: “I have thought, ‘Wow that is high up.’ But you are that swept up by it in the moment that you just get on with it.
“At the time, you are driven by adrenaline and you are usually tired and wet, so you just do it.”
McGuinness also told of his delight at the positive response to the first series he hosted with Flintoff and Harris.
“We are all very pleased,” he said.
“When you are filming it, you’re having a laugh, weighing it up and saying, ‘Yeah I think that’ll be alright.’ But you never know until it’s on and some things work and some things don’t.
“I always felt comfortable personally about what we had filmed. You can’t do much more than that. But it’s really pleasing to hear the positive reaction.”
Top Gear series 28 starts on Sunday January 26 at 8pm on BBC Two.
