Freddie Flintoff almost left store 'bankrupt' as a teen before getting axed from job

chuckled that he was "like the Robin Hood of Preston" in his Woolworths retail job, as he helped customers steal. Unsurprisingly, when unimpressed bosses discovered he was helping local poor people to nab Playstations by sneaking them into their shopping bags for free, they gave him the sack.

The topic came up as the cricket ace sat on Jonathan Ross' sofa alongside the likes of Aussie actress Rebel Wilson and The White Lotus star Jason Isaacs on Saturday, 19th April. There was a moment between Freddie and Jason during the chat that left the latter crippled with embarrassment. He'd asked Freddie if the stereotype that people from Yorkshire tended to be more blunt, straight-talking and honest was true, only for him to reply: "I'm from Lancashire!"

The audience roared with laughter, as a blushing Jason admitted how embarrassed and "traumatised" he felt for making the blunder.

Freddie then admitted his moment of dishonesty, saying that he'd started out helping customers swipe CDs, but had then "progressed to Playstations" - and when Jason quipped: "Is that why Woolworths went bankrupt?", he mischievously agreed.

When he declared himself the "Robin Hood of Preston" for helping disadvantaged people who had no disposable cash, Jonathan Ross looked shocked, exclaiming: "I love how you put a positive spin on it!"

As well as delivering the usual dose of humour viewers have come to expect from the talk-show, Freddie also opened up on his darkest moments following the infamous crash that left him with facial disfigurement in 2022.

He revealed that the impact of the crash had knocked his self-esteem so much that he hadn't left the house for six months unless it was to attend medical appointments or deal with emergencies.

"I was struggling with crippling anxiety. I had to have about five or six goes at leaving the room," he explained, adding that he'd had to "chat with myself in the mirror" before plucking up the courage to go outside.

"I think because I'd not done anything for such a long time [and] I'd not shown myself without a face mask to anyone, it was like starting again."

He'd even had to put filming on hold for last year's documentary series Freddie Flintoff's Field of Dreams, where he planned to take a team of nine teenage boys with him to India to pursue their sporting dreams.

Fortunately, reviving his passion for cricket has given Freddie a new lease of life - and last year he was announced as the head coach of the England Lions team.

, which will show his life-altering crash for the first time, will air on Disney+ on April 25.