I’m A Celebrity star Frank Dettori has revealed his struggle with claustrophobia following a horrific plane crash in 2000.
The jockey, 52, is predicted to hit the Australian jungle next week when the show opens, but it is likely he will run into trouble in some challenges.
Frankie escaped death in a plane crash at Newmarket Racecourse in 2000, which killed pilot Patrick Mackey.
The media personality was due to travel to another race meeting at Goodwood on the Piper Seneca plane with Ray Cochrane on the same day.
Frankie said, “I fly jumbo jets and I fly helicopters, but light aircraft? No chance. I also developed claustrophobia.
Concerns: I’m A Celebrity star Frank Dettori has revealed his struggle with claustrophobia following a horrific plane crash in 2000
Horrifying: Frankie escaped death in a plane crash at Newmarket Racecourse in 2000 that killed pilot Patrick Mackey (pictured at the time)
“I used to laugh at my mother when I was little and she had to have the window open or she wouldn’t get in the elevator, but now it’s happening to me.”
In his 2021 memoir Leap of Faith, Frankie said he heard a loud bang and felt like something was wrong.
The light aircraft encountered high winds and weather conditions before smoke began pouring from the right engine.
Frankie said, “I see the first flames flickering and the propeller looks like it’s damaged. That bang we heard earlier must have hit the ground as the plane veered sideways. We tilt suddenly, hard to the right at a crazy angle, where the ground seems almost next to me instead of directly underneath. I brace myself on my chair and hold on to the armrests.
“Patrick is fighting at the controls to keep us in the air, but it’s an impossible mission. We are pulled to the ground. We are dying. We are dying. We’re going to die.’ Frankie said that before the moment of impact, he was not afraid, but was instead overcome with a feeling of “disappointment.”
He explained: ‘It’s so stupid. I’m in perfect health, I’m one of the best in the world at what I do, I just won the Gold Cup, and above all, I have a wife and a son that I love. Everything is about to be wiped out so close to home I can almost see my front door. I don’t even have the strength to scream or cry. What I feel most, even beyond the fear, is disappointment.
‘My life doesn’t flash before my eyes as many people say at times like this. I just think: why? Why now? Why are you taking me now? Done, lights out, gone, dead: a button pressed, a life ended. It’s going to hurt like hell. I hope it’s soon.’
The British flat racing champion wrote that he could still hear the sound as they plunged into the mound of earth known as Devil’s Dyke.
History: The media personality was due to travel to another race meeting at Goodwood on the Piper Seneca plane with Ray Cochrane on the same day (pictured in 2023)
Frankie credits Ray with saving his life, when he pulled him from the plane and was taken to the hospital with damage to his leg and face.
He said: ‘I can’t shake the feeling I’ve had since the crash, and especially since the morphine and painkillers wore off: why did he die and I didn’t? He was such a good guy, and 52 is no age to die.
‘Everyone just expects me to carry on as normal, to drive normally, to be Frankie as normal. “Oh, it’s Frankie, he’s going to be fine.” No one wants to be normal as much as I do, but it’s only now that I truly appreciate something fundamental about my life: that nothing in it has ever been normal.
‘It’s not normal to have a father who is a champion jockey, who sent me to another country when I was 14 and with whom I sometimes don’t talk for years. It’s not normal to have dozens of reporters at a police station when you go there. It’s not normal to ride seven winners in seven races at Ascot.
Wreckage: In his 2021 memoir Leap of Faith, Frankie said he heard a loud bang and felt like something was wrong (photo of the light aircraft after the crash)
“It’s not normal to survive a plane crash that would have killed you nine times out of 10.” And it’s not normal to have done all this before I was thirty. Maybe I take that abnormality so much for granted that it has become normal, and deep down I’m still the same old Frankie. At least that’s what I tell myself. But it’s not true.
‘Other people notice it, including me. You’re a little quiet, Frankie. You are not your usual self. Nothing big or too much to worry about: just a little out of my basic level. I don’t see an advisor. I’m italian. By the time I’ve told the story to a million family and friends, what else is there to say? I think I’m doing okay, but inside I keep asking the same questions over and over again. Why me? Why not me? Why did I survive while Patrick didn’t?
‘The fear of knowing that death could be so close and unexpected and that next time I might not be so lucky. These thoughts tumble over each other like clothes in a washing machine.’ Frankie has been in Australia this week for the Melbourne Cup racing event and is expected to head to Brisbane airport soon to meet ITV executives and attend the reality show.
Despite concerns about Frankie taking part in the challenges, the sports star has reportedly told friends that his biggest concern will actually be his appearance.
He has been tipped to eat some creepy crawlies after retirement and challenge himself in some terrifying jungle challenges.
It has been reported that the sportsman is keen to star in the ITV show but is not as concerned about the bugs or trials as he is about his appearance.
Speak with The suna source revealed: ‘Frankie is excited about the jungle but is only worried about who will get his hair done while he’s there!’
Frankie, who announced his retirement from horse racing after 35 years in December last year, was due to join I’m A Celeb last month.