Freddie Flintoff and Paddy McGuinness recall brutal Top Gear chilli challenge: ‘It’s the worst thing I’ve ever had’

The Top Gear boys have faced their fair share of tricky challenges over the years, but now Freddie Flintoff, Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris have discussed their most ‘horrendous’ yet ahead of the new series.

The trio took on a chilli challenge while testing out a set of new electric caravans (as you do) in the upcoming episodes, as they tested their endurance in the face of outrageous levels of heat. 

They were tasked with driving laps around a makeshift race track in the Northumberland hills, while eating increasingly spicy chillies in a bid to prove their macho credentials. 

As Chris, Freddie and Paddy make clear, it was one of the most brutal challenges they’ve ever faced – and it wasn’t long before they were chugging down milk to help with the heat.

Speaking to Metro.co.uk and other gathered press, Paddy admitted that he struggled with the challenge more than the others.

‘These two are those people who, when you go to a curry house, say “I can eat something hotter than you”. I’m a chicken korma man. Brown sauce is too hot for me,’ he joked.

Paddy didn’t get on too well in the ‘horrendous’ challenge (Picture: BBC)

‘I said, “I’m going to sit back and enjoy this.” Watching them do it, I was like, “How?”

The trio started with Birds Eye chilli, before working their way up the Scoville scale with increasingly hot peppers – only, Paddy fell at the first hurdle.

‘I had one bite of the Birds Eye chilli. Half of that didn’t make the edit, but we were all struggling,’ he said, before saying about Chris and Freddie: ‘It was like watching two heavyweights go at it.’

The trio faced one of their toughest challenges yet (Picture: BBC)

The boys return later this month (Picture: Ashley Knotek/REX)

Freddie, too, had his struggles.

‘It was pretty horrendous, and without wanting to go into too much detail, there’s another part of the process you’ve got to deal with as well,’ he said.

‘It’s the worst thing I’ve ever had. I’ve not drunk milk for eight years, but I couldn’t get enough of it. And then that night, I’m not even going to go into it…’

‘I’m still not sure what that actual challenge was. Everything went out the window,’ Paddy admitted.

It’s definitely one for fans to keep an eye out for, if they can stomach it.

More: Top Gear

The new series of Top Gear is set to arrive on BBC One this weekend, with Paddy reuniting with Freddie and Chris for a new series of stunts and hi-octane action.

It comes after Freddie seemingly hinted that he may believe the Earth is flat by saying that he wants to go to space to prove the unfounded theory is in fact true.

Top Gear returns on BBC One on Sunday, November 14 at 8pm on BBC One.

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