Don’t Rock the Boat: Freddie Flintoff hosts ITV reality show
The TV star has found fame on reality shows League Of Their Own, Top Gear and more, after 11 years as an England cricketer. Flintoff, who features on the ITV Ant & Dec’s DNA Journey tonight, candidly spoke out about his struggles in the sport and bravely admitted his battle with bulimia. The 43-year-old has seldomly spoken out on politics but in one tweet seemed to reveal his concerns over Brexit.
Flintoff appeared to be worried about the UK’s decision to leave the EU five years ago.
His apparent unease with Brexit came in spite of 52 percent of the public voting to depart from the bloc.
The celebrity joined a list of sportspeople who seemed in opposition to the referendum’s result on Twitter.
Match Of The Day star Gary Lineker claimed there had been “disgusting lies” in the campaign and felt “ashamed” of his generation.
Andrew Flintoff called ‘start today again’ after the UK voted for Brexit in 2016 (Image: BBC / GETTY)
Andrew Flintoff and Jamie Redknapp will star on ancestry show Ant & Dec’s DNA Journey tonight (Image: ITV)
He tweeted: “We’ve let down our children and their children.’”
Former British athlete Paula Radcliffe said she was “in shock” on Twitter and felt people “forgot” the EU was set up “to end wars and create unity and strength”.
On the day of the EU referendum’s results – June 24, 2016 – Flintoff also made his thoughts known, when he wrote: “Can we start today again please?”
His tweet was liked by 1,200 people on Twitter and retweeted 340 times.
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Andrew Flintoff spent 11 years on the England cricket team (Image: GETTY)
One Flintoff fan argued that he shouldn’t be so downbeat about the result and wrote: “Change is good! Exciting times ahead!”
A second quipped that it was “not a good time for a Boris Johnson lookalike to be wandering the streets” and advised him to “stay indoors”.
A third added: “Freddy (sic) does this mean we get the Ashes back?”
The individual referred to Flintoff’s call for a rerun of the referendum, which they felt could also be argued for cricket.
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Express.co.uk relay the Brexit timeline (Image: EXPRESS)
Another remarked: “We all know a t*** who voted Remain.”
Flintoff didn’t respond to the tweets but some appeared to support his call to “start today again”.
One quipped: “It’s yesterday that needs to be started again, Andrew.”
Others interpreted Flintoff’s remark to be a call for a second EU referendum.
Andrew Flintoff revealed he battled with bulimia while on the England cricket team in a BBC show (Image: BBC)
One user wrote: “I wonder if we could start the voting again, this time, based on truth?”
A second added: “We’d welcome all the Remain voters.”
A third questioned whether “the North of England” could “secede from the UK along with Scotland”.
In a 2018 Lancashire Post article, Flintoff was referenced as a positive point for Brexit.
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The piece argued that leaving the EU could lead to “a spike” in “staycation holidays” – a term for people vacationing in their own country.
Rachel McQueen, the then-CEO of Marketing Lancashire, felt there was a “window of opportunity” for the UK to become more attractive to holidaymakers.
She felt Lancashire needed to “maximise” and “attract people” to the county to take advantage of the uncertainty of being able to holiday abroad.
Ms McQueen said: “The domestic market is strong and we already get many visitors from overseas from within the EU and outside of the EU.”
Ant & Dec’s DNA Journey, which reveals celebrities’ family histories, stars Andrew Flintoff tonight (Image: ITV)
In 2016, Lancashire attracted 67 million visitors – generating £4.13billion and supporting 59,000 jobs in the county.
The Post argued that celebrities and tourism based around them could help to bring more people to Lancashire.
They cited Flintoff and Good Morning Britain star Ranvir Singh as potential “high-profile ambassadors” for the area.
Ant & Dec’s DNA Journey, which stars Flintoff and Jamie Redknapp, airs tonight at 9pm on ITV.