What we know about Richard Hammond’s wife Mindy Etheridge
AMANDA “Mindy” Hammond is the wife of one of the most recognisable and busiest TV personalities in the UK – Top Gear and Grand Tour presenter Richard Hammond.
However, the final instalment of The Grand Tour will begin airing on September 13, 2024, giving Richard much more time with his journalist wife.
The pair have been married for over twenty years and have been through a lot in their time together.
So who is Mindy Hammond?
A writer and columnist
Mindy was a columnist for the Daily Express, writing articles about her life.
She has covered topics from life during the Covid-19 lockdown to giving her dog a hair cut.
The writer has been interviewed in the paper too, as she recalled her family’s fear that they may have been gassed and robbed in San Tropez.
She told the story of how they had woken one morning to find their belongings missing, but hadn’t heard the late-night robbery.
Love at first sight
Richard married Mindy in 2002, but they had been inseparable from the moment they met each other in 1995.
Richard said in his book On The Edge: My Story that there was an instant attraction between the couple.
He wrote: “In an instant, I fell in love with her and realised I had met my soul-mate and best friend for life.”
The couple have been through a lot together, including Richard’s horror car crash in 2006.
Richard had been racing at 288mph when the car flipped over at an RAF base in York, whilst the TV star was filming for Top Gear.
He spent two horrifying weeks in a coma, while his wife and the hospital nurses tried desperately to wake him.
Mindy told The Telegraph: “It was disconcerting when, early after the crash, Richard looked at me from his hospital bed and said, ‘You’re lovely, but you’re not my wife’.
“When I corrected him, he responded, ‘No, you’re not my wife, my wife is French’.
“Indeed, when he was allowed home five weeks later, it became clear that Richard’s memory loss was no short-term affliction.”
Richard recovered his memory of his wife, but still has struggles with his short-term memory.
He has sworn off dangerous stunts, because he doesn’t want to risk never seeing his wife and two children again.
Mother of two
Mindy has two daughters with her husband, with their first being born just before they got married.
Isabella was born in 2001, and Willow arrived in 2004.
For most of their lives they’ve been carefully kept out of the public eye by their parents.
However, Izzy and her dad nowhave a podcast together entitled Who We Are Now.
The show focuses on men’s mental health issues and how being more open with feelings can prevent problems building up.
Izzy and Richard appeared on Lorraine to talk about their podcast and Richard’s 2006 crash.