Ted Lasso: Rebecca's "Flipping Straights" Comment & AFC Richmond's Freddie Mercury Connection Explained

Summary Rebecca's comment about Freddie Mercury in Ted Lasso shows the writers' appreciation for the Queen lead singer.

Freddie Mercury's AFC Richmond ownership and theme song reference adds a fun English pride element to the show.

The Freddie Mercury joke in Ted Lasso was actually a callback to an abandoned joke from the pilot episode.

Rebecca's (Hannah Waddingham) comments about Freddie Mercury "flipping straights" in Ted Lasso, combined with the series linking him to AFC Richmond, show a real appreciation for the Queen lead singer by the show's writing staff. Ted Lasso, the beloved sports comedy-drama starring Jason Sudeikis as the titular fish-out-of-water American football coach leading an English soccer team, ended in 2023, but fans are still quoting the hilarious and occasionally tear-jerking Ted Lasso scenes. One of these funny scenes involves Rebecca referencing the Queen frontman.

Queen remains a cornerstone of rock history with their mesmerizing on-stage performances and incredible music. Freddie Mercury is probably the most famous member of the band because of his astonishing vocal range and tragic death due to complications from AIDS, and also for his status as an LGBTQ+ icon. The writers of Ted Lasso have a deep appreciation for the rock star as well, considering they included an entire scene about him in the show.

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Freddie Mercury Was A Worldwide Heartthrob

In season 3, episode 11, "Mom City", Ted Lasso characters Rebecca, Leslie Higgins (Jeremy Swift), and Keeley Jones (Juno Temple) are in the stands watching AFC Richmond and the topic of Freddie Mercury comes up. Rebecca tells the others her father went to art school with Freddie and that he had a four-octave range. She then matter-of-factly says her father always noted his greatest talent was "flipping straights", to which Keeley and Leslie raise their eyebrows but knowingly nod as if to say, "Well of course."

This joke is a reference to Freddy Mercury's well-known sexuality and worldwide appeal. A handsome, international popstar, with extreme confidence, it's likely some ostensibly straight men were happy to discover a wider spectrum of their sexuality thanks to him. But the joke has extra layers considering who it's delivered by. Hannah Waddingham also famously has a singing range of four octaves (via Golden Globes) and there are plenty of documented online cases of women insisting Waddingham has a similar sexual aura.

Freddie Mercury Once Owned AFC Richmond & Wanted "Fat Bottomed Girls" As Its Theme

Leslie Reveals A Surprising Connection Between Queen And The Team

The reason Freddie Mercury comes up in this scene is because Leslie mentions that Freddie Mercury once owned the AFC Richmond team at one point in the past. He even attempted to make "Fat Bottomed Girls" the club's theme song. It's a fun little moment of English pride in Ted Lasso, and it also goes a long way to show that AFC Richmond has a history all its own, not shown in the series.

Mercury's AFC Richmond Ownership Was Meant To Be Referenced In The Ted Lasso Pilot

This Scene Is A Callback To An Abandoned Joke From The Pilot

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This Ted Lasso season 3 Freddie Mercury reference is actually a nod to a joke that was supposed to be made in the pilot. In a conversation with 60 Minutes, Sudeikis talks about how when Rebecca shows Ted the wall of previous owners, the camera pans to Freddie Mercury, much to Ted's amusement. It was a nod to Elton John owning Watford in the 80s. He also mentions other cut jokes from that first episode, such as another coach from the team's history: a sack of potatoes wearing a hat.

Ultimately, the showrunners couldn't get licensing to use Mercury's likeness, so they went with the joke of Rebecca asking Ted if he believes in ghosts, to which he responds, "I do. But more importantly, I think they need to believe in themselves, you know?" It's a funny line and inarguably a good way to highlight the optimism Ted Lasso was all about.