Biography - Richard Hammond

Who is Richard Hammond?

Richard Hammond is a British TV presenter, best known for presenting Top Gear from 2002 to 2015. He is currently co-presenter of The Grand Tour alongside presenters James May and Jeremy Clarkson. He has survived two crashes in the last decade but has not lost his sense of humor.

Read more about him below!

Richard Hammond – Age, Parents, Siblings

Richard Hammond was born on 19 December 1969 in Solihull, Warwickshire, England. His birth name/full name is Richard Mark Hammond.  His mother’s name is Eileen Hammond and his father’s name is Alan Hammond. He also has two younger brothers, Andrew Hammond and Nicholas Hammond. Andrew is a writer and has written the 'Crypt' series.

When Richard Hammond was young, his family moved to North Yorkshire where he grew up.

Education, Ethnicity

For his education, he attended Blossomfield Infant School (ages 3-7). He then joined Solihull School and later Ripon Grammar School. After graduation, he attended Harrogate College of Art and Technology from 1986 to 1988.

His ethnicity is English.

Richard Hammond – Girlfriend, Wife, Children, Divorce

Richard Hammond is a happily married man. He is married to longtime girlfriend Amanda "Mindy" Hammond who is also known by the nickname “Mindy”. They tied the knot on May 4, 2002.

He and his wife have two children together - daughters Willow and Isabella Hammond.

There are no rumors of divorce surrounding the pair.

Related: Craig Kilborn - Comedian, TV host of The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn 

Richard Hammond – Career

After graduating from Harrogate College of Art and Technology, he worked for various radio stations including BBC Radio, Radio Cleveland, Radio York, Radio Cumbria, Radio Leeds, Radio Newcastle, and Radio Lancashire.

Hammond then auditioned for Top Gear and became its presenter in 2002 which he continued until 31^st March 2015 except for his recovery due to a car crash in September 2006. On 25^th March 2015, BBC decided to not renew its contract with Top Gear.

Related: Adam Ferrara - Actor, Comedian host of Top Gear 

He also has presented shows such as Brainiac: Science Abuse, Men & Motors, Crufts, The Gunpowder Plot: Exploding The Legend, Should I Worry About...?, Time Commanders, Richard Hammond's 5 O'Clock Show, Richard Hammond and the Holy Grail (2006), Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections (2008), Ashes To Ashes (2008), 

Other shows include Total Wipeout, Richard Hammond's Blast Lab, Richard Hammond's Invisible Worlds (2010), Richard Hammond's Tech Head, Richard Hammond's Journey to the Centre of the Planet, Richard Hammond's Crash Course (2012), Planet Earth Live (2012).

Currently, he is the co-presenter for the show The Grand Tour along with James May and Jeremy Clarkson who are also his co-presenters from Top Gear.

Related: Ricky Gervais - Comedian of The Ricky Gervais Show 

Richard Hammond – Car crashes

On 20^th September 2006, during the filming of a Top Gear segment at the former RAF Elvington airbase, he crashed a jet-powered car while traveling at 288 mph(463 km/h) which injured him. 

His car was named Vampire and was able to travel at the speed of 370 mph (595 km/h). The crash happened when the front right tire failed.

The crash was shown on an episode of Top Gear, which aired on 28 January 2007. He requested to his fellow presenters to never mention the crash again, which they accepted except for occasional references. Hammond returned to the show on 28 January 2007.

Related: Chris Evans - TV host, Radio host, Producer

On The Edge: My Story, which gave insights into the crash from both Richard Hammond and his wife, was published in 2007.

In June 2017, Richard Hammond needed to be airlifted to hospital after crashing a Rimac Concept One electric supercar on a hill climb course. Thankfully, he got off only with a minor injury, citing only a fractured knee.

Health after the crash

In a February 2008 interview with The Sunday Times, he revealed that he suffered a loss of memory, depression, and difficulties with emotional experiences after the crash. He shared that he was consulting a psychiatrist to recover from his induced mental health issues.

Related: Piers Morgan - Journalist, TV host of Good Morning Britain 

Richard Hammond – Controversy

Hammond has sparked several controversies around him such as him being Xenophobic and Homophobic.

In the 16^th series of Top Gear, the second episode he said that no one would ever want to own a Mexican car, since cars are supposed to reflect national characteristics and so a Mexican car would be "lazy, feckless, flatulent, overweight, leaning against a fence, asleep, looking at a cactus with a blanket with a hole in the middle on as a coat."

He went on to add "I'm sorry, but can you imagine waking up and remembering you're Mexican?!"

In December 2016, Hammond stirred controversy after a homophobic remark in season one, episode 6 of the series The Grand Tour. His co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson joked "the only problem is that in one of those, you couldn't enjoy a chocolate Magnum ice cream" to which Richard Hammond replied "It's all right, I don't eat ice cream. It's something to do with being straight."

Related: Jason Bradbury - TV host - host of The Gadget Show 

In 2017, he provided his explanation on the subject saying, "Look, anyone who knows me knows I wasn’t being serious, that I’m not homophobic. Love is love, whatever the sex of the two people in love... It may be because I live in a hideously safe and contained middle-class world, where a person’s sexuality is not an issue,” 

He went on, “ But when I hear of people in the media coming out, I think, why do they even feel the need to mention it? It is so old-fashioned to make a big deal of it. That isn't even an interesting thing to say at a dinner party anymore".

Richard Hammond – Net Worth, Salary

The net worth of Hammond is estimated to be around $45 million while the figure on his annual salary is under review.

Richard Hammond – Instagram, Twitter, Facebook

On social media handles including Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, Richard Hammond is followed by millions of followers and counting.

Related: List of TV host