Personal Life
Hammond has been married to Amanda Etheridge (mostly known as Mindy) since May 2002; the couple have two daughters. The family lives in a mock castle in Herefordshire and also has an apartment in London. Hammond also plays the 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. Hammond likes to ride his bicycle in cities, for which he is mocked mercilessly by fellow presenter Jeremy Clarkson.
Hammond is a fan of Porsche 911s and claims the Pagani Zonda to be the ultimate supercar. He once owned a 1982 Porsche 911 SC (sold in the mid-2000s), and later purchased a 2006 Porsche 911 (997) Carrera S. In 2004, Hammond purchased a Porsche 928 for the purpose of daily driving. Much unlike Clarkson and May, he also has an interest in American muscle cars, having owned a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T, a 1967 Ford Mustang GT 390, and a 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT-8 (which was purchased in the United States on a Series 12 episode of Top Gear).
Hammond had also owned a Morgan AeroMax, in which he was involved in a car accident on 9 August 2009. He also owns a Jaguar E-Type and is also a fan of monster trucks, having attended Truckfest '07.
An interview with The Sunday Times in February 2008 reported Hammond as having moved briefly from Gloucestershire to Buckinghamshire, then back again because he missed the country life.
Hammond is a keen motorcyclist and Land Rover Defender fan. He spent over £70,000 rebuilding his 110 "Buster" in 2008.
During the news segment of Top Gear's 2010 USA Road Trip special, Hammond openly expressed his dislike of the band Genesis. This fact was later exploited by his co-presenters (particularly by Clarkson) in two special episodes: during the Middle East Special, when they installed a secret second stereo unit in his Fiat Barchetta that only plays the band's Live over Europe 2007 concert; in the India Special, Clarkson played the same song used in the previous special through the megaphone mounted in his Jaguar XJS, despite Hammond driving a different car (a Mini Cooper Sport).
In October it was reported he had spent over £2 million buying Bollitree Castle which is situated near Weston under Penyard, Ross-on-Wye. It has been rumoured he has also bought a large house in the small town of Wantage, Oxfordshire.
On Top Gear in 2007, Hammond went to Africa on an 'Epic Road Trip' across Botswana. While there he found a 1963 Opel Kadett, in which he drove across Botswana. Hammond named it Oliver. On Top Gear a week after the special was aired, Hammond announced during the news, that he had shipped Oliver back to the UK, where it was restored by a team from Practical Classics magazine. Oliver features on Hammond's children's science television show Richard Hammond's Blast Lab and in another episode of Top Gear as a kind of "Hill-holder" in the trailer truck challenge (after it acquired the personal plate "OLI V3R"). Oliver is also mentioned in Hammond's second autobiography As You Do.
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 2010, Hammond gained a private pilot licence (PPL)(H) in an Robinson R44 helicopter.
During season 18 of Top Gear it was revealed that he owns a Fiat 500 TwinAir.
Read more about this topic: Richard Hammond
Famous quotes containing the words personal and/or life:
“It is cowardly to fly from natural duties and take up those that suit our taste or temperament better; but it is also unwise to take an exaggerated view of personal duties, which shuts out the proper care of the mind and body entrusted to us.”
—Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards (1842–1911)
“The problem is simply this: no one can feel like CEO of his or her life in the presence of the people who toilet trained her and spanked him when he was naughty. We may have become Masters of the Universe, accustomed to giving life and taking it away, casually ordering people into battle or out of their jobs . . . and yet we may still dirty our diapers at the sound of our mommy’s whimper or our daddy’s growl.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)