Paddy McGuinness denies KSI victory during Top Gear guest appearance

Olajide ‘KSI‘ Olatunji has become the first YouTuber to drive around Top Gear’s famous test track, but his appearance on the show wasn’t all a success story as Paddy McGuinness denied him victory in a challenge against co-host and former England cricketer Andrew Flintoff. 

The popular British content creator had a stellar end to 2019, where he reigned victorious in his highly anticipated bout against Logan Paul at the Staples Center in November.

Looking to take that winning form into the world of cars, KSI appeared on the popular TV show Top Gear on February 24, only to find himself prevented from another win by a heroic save from one of the hosts during a football challenge.

The YouTube star took part in two challenges during his appearance, where he was tasked with recording his fastest lap in a Toyota, but the most entertaining part of the show was certainly the Airbag Football Challenge.

For those who haven’t seen the BBC show before, the challenge requires participants to select an airbag from the stand and use the power of the airbag to fire a ball towards a football goal. One of the presenters will play the role of the goalkeeper and the person who hits the back of the net the most wins.

• Read More: KSI explains why he can never be “canceled”

Just like KSI has earned his stripes in the boxing ring, though, Paddy did the same in goal after pulling off a great save to deny him the victory.

He said: “Get that on your YouTube channel son,” celebrating the important stop, throwing punches in the air. “Get me to the Staples Center. Bang bang bang bang!” Moments later, Flintoff popped one in off the crossbar to win the challenge 2-1.

Timestamp in video below at 1:50.

The YouTube star also had to fend off terrible weather conditions to complete his fastest lap in a reasonably fast car, with pouring down rain, and clocked in with a fastest lap time of 1:53.9.

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His time equaled a wet lap from popular comedian Romesh Ranganathan but wasn’t enough to knock the likes of Ed Byrne, Tinie Tempah and others down a place in the Top Gear standings.

Whether or not he will return to the Top Gear studio remains to be seen, although it’s certainly refreshing to see somebody like him move from the world of gaming and content creation to appearing on mainstream shows. It could pave the way for more in the future.