Top Gear star Richard Hammond has spoken for the first time about the end of his 23-year marriage to wife Mindy.
The 55-year-old revealed he has endured a traumatic year after losing his father, seeing his marriage break down and watching his Amazon Prime series The Grand Tour with Jeremy Clarkson and James May come to an end.
“I’m 55. Things change. That’s what happens at this age. Big things change,” he told the Daily Mail.
Hammond admitted his divorce has been one of the hardest challenges of his life, comparing it to his infamous 2006 car crash while filming Top Gear that left him in a two-week coma with serious brain injuries.
“Whatever happens to us, we can decide. Maybe not in the moment,” he said. “I didn’t decide, as the car was going over at 320mph, ‘I’m going to make this a good thing’, but there came a moment when I thought, ‘right, my reaction to this is going to be positive’. That’s what you have to do. Well, it’s what I do.”
The couple announced their split eight months ago, insisting no one else was involved. A joint statement read: “Our marriage is coming to an end, but we’ve had an amazing 28 years together and two incredible daughters... We will always be in each other’s lives and are proud of the family we created.”
Insiders suggested it was Mindy who chose to call time on the relationship, though Hammond said: “In terms of that particular issue that’s a decision we took, as we said at the time. We put out a statement and it still stands.”
He also addresses the split in the new series of Richard Hammond’s Workshop. “Let’s get something out of the way straight away,” he tells viewers. “There has been a slight change in my circumstances recently. I got divorced. Which means I now live here. I like it. It’s got amazing views, a place to keep some of my cars and bikes and best of all it’s closer to the workshop. I’m trying to put a silver lining on this. It’s been a tough few years, but it’s not all bad.”
Hammond first found fame on local radio before joining Top Gear and later hosting The Grand Tour on Amazon in a reported £7million deal. He also fronted Brainiac and Total Wipeout.
The presenter has twice cheated death in high-speed crashes. In 2006, he miraculously survived a 288mph accident in a jet-powered car while filming Top Gear. He was left in a coma for two weeks, and later admitted to suffering memory loss, depression, and difficulties “connecting emotionally”.
In 2017, Hammond was airlifted to hospital after flipping a £2million supercar while filming The Grand Tour in Switzerland. The car burst into flames but he escaped with a fractured knee.
