Freddie Flintoff and Paddy McGuinness join Chris Harris for all-new Top Gear that starts tonight

TOP Gear returns tonight with Paddy McGuinness, Freddie Flintoff and Chris Harris at the wheel.  I’ve already seen it, it’s good. The trio take their first cars to the hottest place on Earth. Here, Chris reveals all about TV’s new bromance.

'WE had been together for about an hour — it was a kind of “meet your new classmates” session at an airfield last summer.

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One camera, see what the chemistry’s like.

I was carrying some summer-holiday ballast. In fact, I tend to carry that all year round.

I was getting into a car and Paddy kindly observed that “less tight- fitting jumpers would be my advice, Chris”.

Flintoff smirked, so I reassured them I would come back in different shape when we filmed for real. England’s fifth-fastest-ever bowler asked: “What shape? A circle?”

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They then congratulated each other on their searing wit.

And I knew then that all was well with the world. These boys would make great Top Gear ­presenters.

That initial test day seems a long, long time ago now. We’ve travelled to remote, exotic places — Borneo, Ethiopia, Telford — and all I can remember is laughing for most of the past seven months.

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And I have to fess up to being a massive cricket tragic, so  fighting back with choice banter was, at first, a bit intimidating.

How do you suggest that your sporting hero might have borrowed his front teeth from a giant rabbit?

I suppose you just do, so I did, and he laughed, and we went from there.

THE CAR REMAIN THE STAR OF THE SHOW

Sadly, I’m also a huge Phoenix Nights fan, so reciprocating Paddy’s targeted abuse was tough at first, but again, there’s only so long you can avoid the thorny issue of him being so orange.

Don’t worry — some of the insults we’ve recorded are actually funny. Presenting Top Gear is the best job in the world, and these two know how to make great telly and to make the whole crew smile.

And this is important, because if we’re not having fun filming it, the end product will be as flat as Fred thinks the Earth is.

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The car remains the star of the show and we’ve driven everything from a Formula 1 car to a  Triumph Spitfire, the reasonably fast car still gets a trundle and the Stig makes an appearance, as does the finest German in the world, Sabine Schmitz.

I miss not working with Matt LeBlanc. He’ll always be a pal and we’re still in regular contact, but he needed to be nearer home in LA.

He’s a tough act to follow, especially as eye-candy for the ladies, but Fred has stepped up to that role with aplomb. Just as well because Paddy is surprisingly unattractive up close.

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Both of them love cars and play down how much they know, but they’re proper enthusiasts and the moment the cameras cut we’re browsing the classifieds or taking the piss out of Fred’s Roller.

But I’m the car nerd and I’ll always be happy in that role — I can slide a car around a bit too, which helps make the films look all slidey and smokey.

I just want Top Gear to be loved again. Good old-fashioned Sunday-night entertainment.

I think we’re in a really good place.'

• Top Gear, BBC2 tonight at 8pm.

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