has labelled the BBC ‘disrespectful’ for calling the kids in his new TV show ‘underprivileged’.
The 44-year-old cricket legend is fronting new show Freddie’s Field of Dreams on the Beeb, which sees him teach working-class kids from his hometown of Preston how to play cricket, and he argues that the game isn’t ‘just for posh people’ as he puts them head-to-head with a local private school.
After seeing the wording of the broadcaster’s press release about the show, he told the Daily Star: “I thought it was disrespectful as well. ‘Underprivileged’ is like a buzzword. It’s almost like clickbait.
‘When the press release was put out and the kids were up in arms over it, I could not defend it.’
Since the uproar, the wording has been edited to ‘reluctant’ on all the promotional material.
‘They just need a chance, some of these lads,’ he added. ‘They need somebody to back them.’
The host – who has sons Corey, 16, Rocky, 14, Preston, two, and daughter Holly, 17, with his wife Rachael Wools – also revealed the youngsters knew him better for instead of breaking records on the pitch, but insisted he ‘wasn’t annoyed’ by that.
‘It’s like Lenny Henry being known for the Premier Inn adverts or Gary Lineker for his crisps,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t annoy me because I never wanted to be famous.’
Last week, Freddie – who himself was state school educated – admitted that despite offers of a scholarship, ‘the best decision’ was to stay at his local comprehensive instead going to a private school.
He explained: ‘I didn’t want to be the poor kid at a posh school. It was the best decision I ever made. It was such a good grounding, I wouldn’t swap it.’
The former Lancashire cricket star also acknowledged winning ‘the lottery of life’ with his family, who supported his cricketing dreams.
He said: ‘I won the lottery of life with my family. We didn’t have much, but for love and support, we couldn’t have had more.’
Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams starts Tuesday, July 5 at 8pm on BBC One.
