Richard Hammond has revealed he will address his divorce from wife Mindy Etheridge in the new series of his Discovery Plus show, Richard Hammond’s Workshop. The former Top Gear presenter, 55, and journalist Etheridge, 60, announced in January that they had separated after “an amazing 28 years together”. Hammond explained that the topic will be addressed at the start of the series before moving on to the usual workshop content.
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Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Hammond told host Susanna Reid: “We wanted to get that out of the way… because I got divorced this year. So at the beginning we said, ‘so there’s been a few changes to the workshop and a little bit of a change to my situation’, and then we move on from that very quickly.” Earlier this year, the ex-couple said in a joint statement: “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.”
Hammond admitted that change is part of life at his age, telling the Daily Mail: “I’m 55. Things change. That’s what happens at this age. Big things change.” While insiders suggested Etheridge chose to end the marriage, 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.”
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Elsewhere in the interview, Hammond spoke about Top Gear, which he left in 2015 alongside Jeremy Clarkson and James May. He said the show “has to come back”, adding: “I have absolutely no power over it whatsoever, but yes of course it will. The show’s 40-odd years old, we were temporary custodians of it… it’s off air at the moment, it’s been off-air and come back before.” Hammond also reflected on the “hurt” experienced by Freddie Flintoff following his 2022 crash, drawing on his own recovery from a near-fatal 2006 crash while filming the programme.
