Richard Hammond

Early life

Richard Mark Hammond was born on 19 December 1969, in Solihull, Warwickshire, England, eldest of three sons of Alan and Eileen Hammond.His younger brothers are Andrew (writer of the 'Crypt' series) and Nicholas. He is the grandson of workers in the Birmingham car industry. In the mid-1980s Hammond moved with his family to the North Yorkshire cathedral city of Ripon located 8 miles south of the village of Thornton Watlass where his father ran a probate business in the market square. He attended Blossomfield Infant School in Solihull's Sharmans Cross district from the ages of 3 to 7. Originally a pupil of Solihull School, a fee-paying boys' independent school, he moved to Ripon Grammar School, and from 1986 to 1988 attended Harrogate College of Art and Technology.

He has shared that he was somehow expelled from sixth form college when he was 17.

Career

After graduation, Hammond worked for several BBC radio stations, including Radio Cleveland, Radio York, Radio Cumbria, Radio Leeds and Radio Newcastle; as well as working for Renault's press office as a means to meet people from the motoring press.

In the period when he was presenting the afternoon programme at Radio Lancashire, his regular guests included motoring journalist Zog Ziegler, who would review a car of the week during a phone interview conducted by Hammond. The two became good friends, and it was Ziegler who encouraged Hammond to enter motoring reviews on television. After starting out on satellite TV (Men & Motors), he auditioned for Top Gear.

Top Gear

Hammond became a presenter on Top Gear in 2002, when the show began in its revamped format presenting alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Jason Dawe. In a July 2015 interview with The Guardian, producer Andy Wilman, who worked with Hammond on Top Gear and subsequently The Grand Tour stated Hammond was close to being fired by the BBC after the first series of the 2002 revival format of Top Gear but was ultimately reprieved. Hammond has sometimes been nicknamed "The Hamster" by fans and his co-presenters due to his name and relatively small stature compared to May and Clarkson.

Following a high-speed dragster crash while filming in September 2006 near York, Hammond returned in the first episode of series 9 (broadcast on 28 January 2007) to a hero's welcome, complete with dancing girls, aeroplane-style stairs and fireworks. The show also contained images of the crash, which had made international headlines, with Hammond talking through the events of the day after which the audience broke into spontaneous applause. Hammond then requested that the crash never be mentioned on the show again, though all three Top Gear presenters have since referred to it in jokes during the news segment of the programme. He told his colleagues, "The only difference between me now and before the crash is that I like celery now and I didn't before".

Following the BBC's decision not to renew Clarkson's contract with the show on 25 March 2015, Hammond's contract expired on 31 March. In April, he ruled out the possibility of continuing to present Top Gear, commenting via Twitter that "amidst all this talk of us 'quitting' or not: there's nothing for me to 'quit'. Not about to quit my mates anyway". On 12 June 2015, the BBC confirmed that Top Gear would return with a 75-minute special, combining two unseen challenges featuring all three presenters from series 22, with studio links from Hammond and May. It aired in the UK on BBC Two on 28 June at 8 p.m, and in the United States on BBC America on 13 July at 9 p.m.

During filming of a Top Gear segment at the former RAF Elvington airbase near York on 20 September 2006, Hammond was injured in the crash of the jet-powered car he was piloting. He was travelling at 288 mph (463 km/h) at the time of the crash.

His vehicle, a dragster called Vampire, was theoretically capable of travelling at speeds of up to 370 mph (595 km/h). The vehicle was the same car that in 2000, piloted by Colin Fallows, set the British land speed record at 300.3 mph (483.3 km/h). The Vampire was powered by a single Bristol-Siddeley Orpheus afterburning turbojet engine producing 5,000 lbf (22 kN) of thrust.

Brainiac: Science Abuse

In 2003, Hammond became the first presenter of Brainiac: Science Abuse; he was joined by Jon Tickle and Charlotte Hudson in series 2. After the fourth series it was announced that Hammond was no longer going to present the Sky1 show after he signed an exclusive deal with the BBC. Vic Reeves took his place as main presenter for the show's final two series.

Other television work

Early in his career, as well as his radio work, Hammond presented a number of daytime lifestyle shows and motoring programmes such as Motor Week on Men & Motors.

He presented the Crufts dog show in 2005, the 2004 and 2005 British Parking Awards, and has appeared on School's Out, a quiz show on BBC One where celebrities answer questions about things they learned at school. He has also presented The Gunpowder Plot: Exploding the Legend. Along with his work on Top Gear, he presented Should I Worry About...? on BBC One, Time Commanders on BBC Two and the first four series of Brainiac: Science Abuse on Sky One. He was also a team captain on the BBC Two quiz show, Petrolheads, in which a memorable part was one where Hammond was tricked into bumping his classic Ferrari while trying to parallel park blindfolded in another car.

In 2006, Hammond fronted the Richard Hammond's 5 O'Clock Show with his co-presenter Mel Giedroyc. The programme, which discussed a wide range of topics, was shown every weekday on ITV between 17:00 and 18:00.

In July 2005, Hammond was voted one of the top 10 British TV talents.

He presented Richard Hammond and the Holy Grail in 2006. During the special, he travelled to various locations around the world, including the Vatican Secret Archives, exploring the history of the Holy Grail.

As part of Red Nose Day 2007, Hammond stood for nomination via a public telephone vote, along with Andy Hamilton and Kelvin MacKenzie, to be a one-off co-presenter of BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour on 16 March 2007. However, he was defeated by Andy Hamilton.

In April 2007, Hammond presented a one-off special on BBC Radio 2 for Good Friday followed by another in August 2007 for the bank holiday.

Hammond recorded an interview with the famed American stuntman Evel Knievel, which aired on 23 December 2007 on BBC Two, and was Knievel's last interview before his death on 30 November 2007.

Personal life

Hammond married Amanda "Mindy" Hammond (née Etheridge), a columnist for the Daily Express, in May 2002, after they first met while working at a PR firm in London. They have two daughters born in 2001 and 2004. In January 2025, Hammond announced that he and his wife were separating after 28 years together.

On 9 February 2025, Hammond announced on his podcast that his father had died.

It was a friend who first gave Hammond his nickname Hamster. The nickname stuck, especially on Top Gear due to his name and relatively small stature compared to May and Clarkson.

He and his family adopted TG, the official Top Gear dog, after it became apparent that the labradoodle was afraid of cars. TG died at age 11 in January 2017.

Hammond plays bass guitar, on which he accompanied the other Top Gear presenters when they performed alongside Justin Hawkins on Top Gear of the Pops for Comic Relief in 2007.

He likes to ride his bicycle, scooter, or motorbike in cities, for which he is mocked mercilessly by fellow presenter Jeremy Clarkson.

In 2010, Hammond was the president of the 31st Herefordshire Country Fair held at Hampton Court in Hope under Dinmore. His involvement caused unprecedented attendance with "nearly 15,000 people" drawn to the event to meet the presenter.

In March 2012, Hammond passed his B206 LST helicopter licence and has since owned a Robinson R44 Raven II helicopter.

In July 2026, Hammond was charged with two instances of speeding in December 2025. He was fined £999, in addition to other legal costs and victim surcharges and was given seven penalty points on his licence.

Residences

The Hammond family live in a mock castle in Herefordshire, and they also have an apartment in London. In an interview with The Sunday Times in February 2008, it was reported that Hammond had moved briefly from Gloucestershire to Buckinghamshire, then back again, because he missed the country life.

In October 2012, it was reported he had spent over £2 million buying Bollitree Castle which is situated near Weston under Penyard, Ross-on-Wye.

Hammond lives at a 19th-century Georgian mansion as Llanwenarth, near Abergavenny, Wales, which he bought in November 2025. Renovation of the property has been permitted alongside "appropriate measures" to prevent harm to a number of bat species

Vehicle ownership

Cars

Hammond owns or has owned many different cars. These include:

1929 Ford Model A

1933 Riley Alpine Tourer

1934 Morgan 3-Wheeler

1942 Ford GPW

1956 Land Rover Series 1, Undergoing restoration

1958 Jaguar XK150

1962 Jaguar E-Type Roadster Mk1

1962 Opel Kadett, bought in 2023 from a seller who like Oliver was originally from Johannesburg. He has since named it Olivia

1962 Opel Kadett Estate known as "Ultimate Estate Car" Bought in 2024 from Mathersons Auctions.

1963 Opel Kadett, a car he bought for Top Gear's Botswana special. He named the car Oliver and had it shipped from Botswana to the UK

1968 Ford Mustang GT 390 in Highland Green

1971 Buick Riviera which he used in Series 4, Episode 3 (Lochdown) of The Grand Tour. The car is customised with a big supercharger and a rear wing modelled from a Plymouth Superbird

1972 MGB GT, a car he bought for a classic car challenge featured in his last episode of Top Gear, which he subsequently kept

1979 MG Midget

1979 Ford Escort RS2000 MkII, his first restoration project for his workshop which initially sold for £33K at auction but bought it back after the new owner had registration issues

Motorcycles

Hammond is a keen motorcyclist, having ridden for over 30 years.

He owns or has owned many different motorcycles including:

1925 Sunbeam Model A, with an asthmatic side-valve 350cc single-cylinder engine, a hand-shift three-speed gearbox, a manual oil pump, acetylene gas lights and no milometer

1929 BMW R52

1935 Indian

1946 Indian Chief

1947 Harley Davidson

1951 BMW R51, with a 600cc conversion, a Hoske tank and cut down mudguards

1959 Norton Dominator

1961 Triumph Bonneville T120C

1962 Triumph Bonneville

1970s Moto Guzzi V7 Sport

1974 Kawasaki Z900

1976 BMW R90S, which is an "[i]rresistible low mileage example of BMWs first attempt at a sportsbike. The tank's been repainted, but the rest is original."

1976 Honda Gold Wing

1976 Yamaha FS-1E

1981 BMW R100RT, which Hammond bought "when some friends, including James May, started a thing called the Crap Motorcycle Camping Club of GB. [...] It's called Eric, after the previous owner and it's done 105,000 miles".

1988 BMW R100GS

1990 BMW K1, with a unique BMW Motorsport inspired paintjob

Other vehicles

Furthermore, Hammond owns or has owned the following vehicles:

2005 Robinson R44 Raven II helicopter

John Deere 6210 SE tractor

2022 Ford Transit (used for his restoration company)

Sale of vehicles

Hammond has stated that he has sold off many of his vehicles to assist in the funding of his workshop, The Smallest Cog.

Hammond often stored his vehicles at his mock-castle home as well as a unit in Herefordshire. The use of one of these units is being used for The Smallest Cog as a 'reception area' for cars awaiting restoration.

Charity work

Hammond is an ambassador of UK charity for children with brain injury and neuro-disability The Children's Trust.

On 29 September 2013, terminally-ill eight-year-old Emilia Palmer was driven by Hammond in a pink Lamborghini Aventador Roadster (newly repainted for the occasion). Hammond flew his Robinson R44 helicopter, G-OHAM, to Shobdon Airfield in Herefordshire, then picked Palmer up from her home in Kimbolton, Herefordshire and drove her back to the airport for a high-speed run on the main runway. The event was arranged at short notice by Rays of Sunshine.

Controversies

During the second episode of series sixteen of Top Gear, Hammond suggested 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." Hammond finished with the remark "I'm sorry, but can you imagine waking up and remembering you're Mexican?!" The comments prompted Mexico's ambassador in London, Eduardo Medina-Mora Icaza, to lodge an official complaint to the BBC. Demanding an apology from the BBC, the ambassador stated: "These offensive, xenophobic and humiliating remarks only serve to reinforce negative stereotypes and perpetuate prejudice against Mexico and its people." The BBC defended the broadcast of this segment on the grounds that such national stereotyping was a "robust part" of traditional British humour.

In December 2016, in reference to the interior styling of a Volvo S90, co-presenter Clarkson joked that "the only problem is that in one of those, you couldn't enjoy a chocolate Magnum ice cream" – to which Hammond responded: "It's all right, I don't eat ice cream. It's something to do with being straight." It has been speculated that the joke was written as a reference to a Kingis ice cream advert in Finland, where that episode of The Grand Tour was filmed. LGBT rights campaigner Peter Tatchell who was unaware of the reference, accused Hammond of "pandering to prejudice", adding that "it's a perverse world when everyday pleasures like ice cream becomes the butt of homophobic innuendo." A spokesperson for UK LGBT rights charity Stonewall stated that "Hammond's choice of words were not just ridiculous, but chosen purposefully to mock and belittle." A year later, in an interview with The Times, Hammond stated: "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." In an interview with Newsweek Today, Hammond denied making homophobic comments, and refused to apologise for the remarks: "I entirely reject any criticism of me being anti-gay. That's just not the case."

Filmography