Dan Walker opens up about his out-of-body experience during a near-fatal bike accident and admits part of him 'really thought' he was dying

Dan Walker has shed light on the 'out-of-body experience' he went through after his near-fatal cycling accident last year.

The presenter, 46, was hit by a car while cycling in Sheffield, near his family home, in February 2023.

The accident left him battered and bruised with a bloodied face, but luckily he was lucky to avoid serious injuries.

During the accident, Dan also experienced something that closely resembled an “out of body experience,” saying that while he “didn't know” if it was spiritual, part of him “really thought it was.”

Dan, who is a devout Christian, told me The times in a new interview: 'In my mind I was cycling along a French boulevard, a tree-lined boulevard, where I think I had been before, but not on a bicycle.

“Then all of a sudden I looked at myself on the ground, looking at a screen, and on that screen I saw these two heads appear. And then I jumped back into myself and lay on the ground and those two faces were the paramedics.'

Ultimately, he did not ask the police to press charges, even though at the time he felt “that was it.”

However, he still feels the impact of the accident every day and has difficulty getting out of his car due to nerve damage.

Although he broke no bones, the car stopped just 50cm from his head and he narrowly avoided long-term injuries.

Dan is the new presenter of Classic FM's revamped breakfast show after joining the team in January.

The early start means he is away from his wife Sarah and three children: Susannah, 16, Jessica, 14, and Joe, 13, for much of the week.

The former TV football presenter previously co-hosted BBC Breakfast for six years before moving to Channel 5 and appearing on Strictly Come Dancing in 2021, where he was paired with Nadiya Bychkova.

At the time of the bike accident, Dan told his fans the news of his crash via an Instagram post hours after the incident, noting that he was “glad to be alive.”

He then tweeted a selfie of his swollen and cut face, accompanied by a bloody white shirt, saying he had “no memory of anything.”

Walker said: “A bit of an accident this morning. I'm glad I'm still alive after being hit by a car while riding my bike. The face is a mess, but I don't think anything is broken.'

'Overwhelmed by all the sweet messages. Thank you. Just home from the hospital. Battered and bruised, but – amazingly – nothing broken. Very grateful that I'm still here. I have no memory of anything and only remember walking around on the tarmac with paramedics and police around me.”

'Thanks to Shaun and Jamie for sorting me and the lovely buyer on site. This is my smile. Grateful for our NHS [sic].'

Days after the accident, Dan admitted that wearing a cycle helmet had probably helped save his life and prevented irreversible injuries – something he has now admitted led to other cyclists branding him a 'disgrace'.

During his recovery process, the English journalist thanked one particular supporter, his dog Winnie, who helped lift his spirits while he healed from the accident.

The TV presenter wrote on Twitter: 'Winnie hasn't left my side this week. She is the best. 2 things happened today… 1. I had my first solid food 2. I ordered a new bicycle helmet Thank you for all the sweet messages asking how I am doing. The swelling goes down, but the body still aches [sic].'

“The driver stopped 20 inches from my head,” Dan recalls.

'I remember seeing myself lying on the floor and looking up at this little white hole in a black screen, and then the hole got bigger and bigger and it became the faces of two paramedics and a police officer.

“Then you think about the things you've left unsaid or the things you've always wanted to do.”

What he actually did was call a family friend of Paul Ansell, the partner of Nicola Bulley whose body had been discovered the day before, to check if he was okay.

'I don't know why I did that. I asked him how the family was doing. Later that day he called me back and said, “Why didn't you tell me you were in the back of an ambulance with your face covered in blood?”

The TV presenter also revealed he has 'no memory' of the horror bike crash.

The former BBC presenter staggered into his home in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, after being picked up by his wife Sarah from the emergency department of his local hospital shortly this afternoon.

Walker hosted BBC Breakfast from 2016 and took part in the 2021 series of Strictly Come Dancing, revealing he signed up for the show to do something 'fun' and 'giggle' after reporting on difficult news stories during the pandemic.

He also hosted Football Focus for twelve years, along with regular appearances on Match of the Day, the Grand National, Royal Ascot and the NFL Show.

In January he became the regular presenter of the weekday breakfast show on Classic FM from 6:30 am to 10:00 am.

He said: “This is a great opportunity to join one of the country's leading radio stations.

'I'm over the moon to be part of Classic FM's brilliant line-up and presenting the breakfast show is a wonderful opportunity.

'I am passionate about classical music and have been listening for a long time. I also love the breakfast crowd and I think they know me well, so I can't wait to get started.”