Richard Hammond put his recent marriage breakup behind him when he returned to work on Wednesday, but he almost never made it after being locked out of his current home.
Hammond confirmed his separation from wife Mindy after 28 years of marriage in January, amid claims that his family had become exasperated by his constant traveling and risky stunts on Amazon Prime show The Grand Tour.
Sources claim he initially left the house (the £7million Bollitree Castle in Hertfordshire) and moved into an adjacent barn on the property, lovingly converted by the presenter into a glorified man cave.
Hammond, 55, is believed to now be renting property in a nearby village, where he runs his ‘Smallest Cog’ car restoration shop.
However, life as a single man appeared to be off to a bad start on Wednesday, with the presenter admitting he had already checked himself out of his temporary home.
Appearing on his popular Drivetribe YouTube channel with Mike Fernie, he said: “I’m late because I got locked out at home.”
Richard Hammond put his recent marriage breakup behind him when he returned to work on Wednesday, but he almost never made it after being locked out of his current home.
Hammond confirmed his separation from wife Mindy after 28 years of marriage in January, amid claims his family had become exasperated by his constant travel and risky stunts.
‘In fact, this afternoon I’m getting ready to go to the Lake District, I’ve got everything packed and ready, and then I thought I’d go and empty the bins.
“So I took the kitchen bin out the front door (I never lock anything), but it’s a Yale lock and the door got stuck. I was outside, I was in my Crocs, I was in my bathrobe. I didn’t have my phone, the keys, nothing.
‘It was quite panic and I thought what do I do now? I thought about crying, but then I thought that wouldn’t help. I felt like ten.
The presenter eventually attempted to break a window with a stray brick, only for it to bounce harmlessly off the glass.
“I don’t know how thieves make a living,” he added. ‘Don’t know. In the end I had to call a locksmith, who arrived in five seconds.
“In short, I’m late because I’m an idiot.”
Reports have already emerged that Mindy, 59, who previously branded him a “nine-year-old”, wants to keep the Herefordshire castle they once shared in their impending divorce.
The former couple bought the castle in 2008 and Hammond subsequently spent 15 years restoring a listed barn on the grounds into their dream ‘clubhouse’.
Sources claim he initially abandoned the house (the £7 million Bollitree Castle in Hertfordshire) and moved into an adjacent barn on the property, lovingly converted into a glorified man cave.
Hammond is now believed to be renting property in a nearby village, where he runs his ‘Smallest Cog’ car restoration shop.
In 2024, Richard hinted at tensions in the marriage when he gave his fans a tour and admitted that he had broken his only golden rule: not to display his prized motorcycle collection in space.
But the presenter said he had managed to ‘sneak in’ some of his favorites after it was ‘decided’ they needed to be cut, adding that Mindy ‘isn’t going to the barn’.
He said: “My wife swears blindly that it is haunted and that makes it more so for me and the boys.”
Hammond confirmed his split from Mindy in a joint statement posted on social media in January, but insisted they will “always be in each other’s lives.”
He wrote: ‘A little update from us; This Christmas we were together as a family and this year we will continue to be a family, but with a slightly different structure.
However, life as a single man appeared to be off to a bad start on Wednesday, with the presenter admitting he had already checked himself out of his temporary home.
The presenter’s former home, a Grade II listed property built in the 18th century, has six bedrooms, a swimming pool and 20 acres of land.
Hammond confirmed his split from Mindy in a joint statement posted to social media in January, but insisted they will “always be in each other’s lives.”
‘Our marriage is coming to an end, but we have spent 28 incredible years together and two incredible daughters.
‘We will always be in each other’s lives and we are proud of the family we created.
‘We will not be commenting further and sincerely hope that our privacy and that of our children are respected at this time. Love, Richard and Mindy.’
It is understood Mindy had previously warned Hammond that he was on his “last chance”, eight years before the couple announced their marriage was over, but has since filed divorce papers.
A source said the sun: ‘Richard is very upset about all this. It seems that he has tried with all his might to rekindle the relationship but to no avail. There is no speculation that third parties are involved.
The presenter’s incessant traveling and dangerous television escapades were thought to be mitigating factors in the split, after two previous high-speed accidents nearly cost Hammond his life.
Hammond almost lost his life when he was involved in a 320mph crash while filming a Top Gear stunt at Elvington airfield in York in 2006.
He endured a second brush with death after his £2 million Rimac supercar fell off a hill and burst into flames while racing at high speed through rural Switzerland in 2017.
But he admitted there were no plans to stop traveling the world, even though The Grand Tour was coming to an end.
Speaking to Fernie, he admitted that he had already planned a boys’ road trip to India with his brother and a group of friends.
“My little brother turns 50 this year,” he explained. ‘And I wanted to do something. We have a great group of mates, we share a lot of friends, and they all ride bikes, so we decided to go to the Himalayas and ride a bike on the highest, most navigable, and most walkable trails in the world.
—At eight thousand feet, it’s higher than Everest Base Camp, so the air is thin and the roads are unstable. There are eight of us and just a mixed group of friends… but I thought everyone could handle a road trip.
Hammond also revealed that important rules were put in place to ensure everyone could spend plenty of time during the arduous journey.
“We can all be idiots from time to time, but you don’t want to overdo it because you’re going to ruin it for everyone else,” he said.
‘But the most important thing is that if someone else bothers you, you can’t give in to that. You have to have a give and take.