Top Gear presenters reunite for first TV show after Freddie Flintoff crash disaster
Former Top Gear stars Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris are teaming up once again. They’ll be hitting the road and tackling new territory – the secret to ageing gracefully. With Paddy in his fifties and Chris approaching the big milestone, the pair are heading out on an epic road trip to learn secrets from the European nations who do midlife the best.
“We are on a mission to explore all the different ways our continental neighbours grow old gracefully,” explains Paddy, 51. “We’re at a point in our lives where we want to make the most of our years ahead, so we try out as many experiences as we can to learn how some of the oldest and well-preserved people on the planet are doing it!”
This trip will be the first time Paddy and Chris are working together since their stint on Top Gear – which ended after Freddie Flintoff’s crash in 2022. The pair are good friends, which is just as well as Paddy admits there wasn’t “much room” in their camper van.
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“We have to contend with living in each other’s pockets for the duration of the road trip,” adds Chris, 49. “So it’s certainly going to be entertaining!”
The enthusiastic duo set off in search of the answers to maintaining their youth and, over the course of the series, they visit Sweden, Greece and Switzerland. While some might back away from the bizarre anti-ageing methods, Paddy and Chris take them in their stride.
“We’ve really tried to tap into both the traditional and modern methods of ‘living well’ that are adopted by each of the countries we visited,” says Paddy. “From Swedish saunas, to milking goats, rock climbing and even visiting a ‘Gentleman’s clinic’… you name it, we try it!”
During the first episode, filmed in Sweden, Paddy and Chris visit a sauna where all the men are an average age of 70 – and naked as the day they were born. In Greece, they learn how to live a simpler life of putting up fences, fishing and surfing. The last stop on their tour is Switzerland, where the lads travel to one of the country’s top wellness resorts to assess how well they are ageing.
They are put through a rigorous training programme that reveals their true biological ages, bringing surprises and a shock for Chris. “By the end of the series, I come to some quite big conclusions based on the experiences we’ve had… which the audience will get to see,” teases Chris. “I’ve learnt that there are certainly things I can change about my lifestyle to improve my health.
“I’ve learnt a lot about my own health during the trip, some of which really shocked me, so I’ll definitely be taking the advice I’ve been given. I’ve also learnt that life is for living, so plan to do plenty of that as well!”
Paddy adds, “There are moments where we both really do some soul-searching and think about how we can make the most of the years ahead.”
One place that both men agree was a highlight is the Greek island of Ikaria. “The slower pace and the ‘simple life’ attitude adopted by the people of Ikaria was really inspiring,” says Chris. “And they are living proof, as the people there are some of the oldest in the world.”
Paddy agrees, “I really enjoyed seeing the people on Ikaria leave all the complications of modern day life and technology behind, and just get out there and enjoy everything life has to offer.”
Both car connoisseurs hoped to take charge of the tunes during the trip, but there was one person who took the lyrical lead. “Unfortunately for me, I don’t get a look in with the radio when Paddy is around,” sighs Chris. “So I was stuck with his awful playlist of 1980s power ballads – and had to put up with Paddy singing along to them.”
But there were some country tunes thrown in as well. “You can’t beat a bit of Johnny Cash on a road trip!” exclaims Paddy. “Luckily for Chris, he was travelling with Bolton’s best karaoke performer, so the hours in the van simply melted away!”
Given that they spend so much time on the road, we asked the pair what their essential travel items were. “I think the most valuable item I take away with me when travelling with Mr McGuinness is definitely earplugs,” Chris reveals.
For Paddy, he says the travel item he always takes away with him are swimming trunks. “I’m not talking about your usual ‘just popping to the local leisure centre’ pair of trunks,” he explains, “but the brightly coloured, novelty patterned ones that only come out once a year in an effort to out-dad all the other dads at the hotel pool.”
Watch Paddy And Chris: Road Tripping on Sunday 29 September at 8pm on BBC One