Flintoff Aims To Be Pitch Perfect

Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff is somewhere he never dreamed he’d be – treading the boards in a major musical production and he’s loving it.

- Kate Houghton

MANY will have fond memories of Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff working hard and playing even harder during a stellar career as England’s cricketing all-rounder.

But the term all-rounder has a different connotation as he prepares to face something potentially more terrifying that the Aussie pace attack.

Preston-born Freddie is launching his singing career this month – and not from the cockpit of a pedalo after a night of revels but on stage in Kay Mellor’s Fat Friends: The Musical.

He has been cast in the part of bridegroom Kevin who is about to marry Kelly, played by Blackpool singing star Jodie Prenger. In the weeks running up to the big day Kelly has become a bit of an all-rounder herself after piling on the pounds and when she tries on her wedding dress, well…things start to come apart at the seams. The stage show, with music by Nick Lloyd Webber, son of Sir Andrew, is based on the ITV drama about men and women fighting to lose weight at a slimmers’ club.

It’s all very different from 40-year-old Flintoff’s days as one of Lancashire’s sporting legends. However, there is a sporting connection to this radical career change.