Freddie Flintoff reveals James Corden will be filming Gavin and Stacey 'in the next couple of weeks'

16 June 2019, 18:00 | Updated: 29 October 2019, 15:48

By Naomi Bartram

@naomibartram

EXCLUSIVE: Freddie Flintoff has told us his pal James Corden is keeping the details of the new Gavin and Stacey top secret.

Freddie Flintoff has revealed his pal James Corden will be filming the Gavin and Stacey reunion VERY soon.

The 41-year-old is swapping the cricket field for the driver's seat as he takes the reins on the new series of Top Gear alongside fellow newbie Paddy McGuinness and show regular Chris Harris.

And after dropping by the Heart studio to discuss his exciting career as a presenter, Freddie admitted A League Of Their Own co-star James is keeping the details of his new Gavin and Stacey script “under lock and key”.

"I've not actually asked him about it," he told us.

"That’ll be kept under lock and key. I know they’re filming it in the next couple of weeks but I’ve not got a clue.”

Last month, James tweeted that Gavin and Stacey would be coming back for a one-off special this Christmas.

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Posting a photo of the script, he told his followers: "Ruth Jones and I have been keeping this secret for a while... We’re excited to share it with you. See you on Christmas Day ⁦@BBCOne⁩ #GavinandStacey".

James has since teased it will be a "nostalgic time-bomb", while actor Matthew Horne also let slip some spoilers from the upcoming show.

Meanwhile, his good pal Freddie - who has starred on A League Of Their Own with James since 2010 - revealed the presenter went on to admit James hasn’t changed a bit since moving to Hollywood to present The Late Late Show.

"He’s always been showbiz," Freddie told us.

"He’s obviously happy because people have different ambitions. For me it was to play cricket and James is doing what he's always wanted to do, he's content and he’s happy. It’s bizarre how to see how everyones careers on that show have progressed over time."

He went on to say the 40-year-old has actually been begging him for a spot on the new Top Gear.

"Corden is desperate to get on, I'm fighting him off," he said.

Read More: Mathew Horne lets slip huge Gavin and Stacey spoiler ahead of Christmas special

"I’ll be calling a few mates at some point to come on as guests. When I played cricket I couldn’t give tickets away and now all my mates want to come to the studio and watch it. I think through that you get a sense of how big the show."

The BBC Two show was originally fronted by trio Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, before Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc took over in 2016.

Matt then fronted series 26 of the show alone before announcing his departure in May last year.

After landing a spot on the iconic show, Freddie recalled the moment producers rang to tell him.

"When I got the phone call i was so happy," he said.

"If there’s one job in TV you look at it and you want to do for me it was Top Gear, I love cars and I've been a fan of the show for a long time.

"In some ways its quite surreal that I’m doing it, I don’t think it will feel real until it goes out."

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So lucky , happy Father’s Day ❤️

A post shared by Andrew Flintoff (@aflintoff11) on Jun 17, 2018 at 12:38pm PDT

Freddie - who shares kids Holly, 14, Corey, 13, and Rocky, 11, with wife Rachael - then told us his kids were "over the moon" when he got the job - but only because they thought he'd be working alongside Friends actor Matt Leblanc.

"When I told the kids they were over the moon because they were like 'oh it’ll be great dad we’ll get to meet Joey off friends'.

"I had to say 'sorry kids he's gone it’s Paddy now, but they love Paddy."

New Top Gear starts this Father’s Day, June 16th, at 8pm on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.