Richard Hammond’s daughter Izzy has admitted her father is an “idiot” as she reflects on the nature of his job and his horrific accidents over the years.
The 24-year-old content creator confessed that even though her father was not around much during her childhood, some of her best memories have been with him.
Joking about messing around in cars with the presenter, he confessed in a recent podcast: ‘WWe’ve done handbrake turns on roundabouts, sorry, I know it’s incredibly illegal, you may have to remove it. He’s an idiot.’
appearing in Ben Fowler Podcast Road to Success Just days before the news of Richard and his wife Mindy’s split, the host asked Izzy: ‘Would you call him a bit of an idiot or reckless? Where is the line?
“Idiot,” he confirmed before explaining, “He has that thing that racing drivers have of not being afraid.” Everyone has that line that says “okay, I know where the line is,” but he doesn’t have that.
“He really genuinely just went and went and went.”
Richard Hammond’s daughter called her father an “idiot” as she reflected on his terrifying accidents and admitted he was “never really there growing up.”
The 24-year-old content creator confessed that even though her father wasn’t around much during her childhood, some of her best memories have been with him (pictured together in April).
In 2006, the presenter, now 55, suffered life-threatening head injuries and was left in a coma following a high-speed crash during filming of the hit BBC show.
Then later in 2017, Mindy publicly warned her husband that he would have to quit television if he seriously crashed his car again, after being involved in a second high-speed accident.
Discussing how her father wasn’t always there for her and her sister Willow, 22, she added: “I always think it must be frustrating for my mom because probably some of my happiest memories are, ironically, with my dad because he’s not was there.” so much because I was filming.
“He wasn’t there much and that’s all I really knew growing up.”
He explained that some work trips meant he was away for over a month, adding: ‘I mean, no, this sounds like I had a horrible childhood that I actually didn’t have at all.
‘I think my parents were very good at navigating because they had no idea what was going to happen.
“But they were very good at drip-feeding information, so we’d know a little bit about what they were doing, but not enough to worry because most of the time they were doing stupid things that we really shouldn’t know about.”
Mindy previously said she had warned Richard about his reckless behavior, telling him, “I said three strikes and you’re out.” You’ve had two tries.
She admitted: “He has that thing that racing drivers have of not being afraid.” Everyone has that line that says “it’s okay, I know where the line is”, but he just doesn’t have that (in the photo of Richard’s accident on Top Gear in 2006).
Commenting that her dad wasn’t always around for her and her sister Willow, 22, she added: “Some of my happiest memories are, ironically, with my dad because he wasn’t there much because he was filming.”
On Friday, MailOnline revealed that Richard’s wife Mindy ended their marriage months ago after their split was revealed on Thursday (pictured in February 2024).
Appearing on ITV’s This Morning, Mindy said: “He has one of these every ten years, so I’ve marked the next one in my diary.”
Richard has repeatedly apologized to his wife and two daughters for putting them through further trauma.
Mindy said, “I have teenage daughters and a nine-year-old man.”
Meanwhile Izzy too spoke about the impact of his father’s terrifying Top Gear accident when he explained that he could “barely function, let alone be a father.”
Izzy was only seven years old at the time; However, in a recent podcast, released just days before Richard and his wife Mindy announced their separation, he spoke candidly about how the incident affected the family and left him “dumb.”
She explained: ‘Obviously the accident affected us all in different ways.
“I think he was seven and it was more the recovery. I think that’s really what affected us as a family because he was absolutely dumb for months and months afterwards.
“He just wasn’t into it at all and that’s why I have a lot of gaps in my memory of him as a father because for a long time he was barely a human being, like he could barely function and he was trying to relearn how to be a human being and a lot. less being a father figure.”
Richard has repeatedly apologized to his wife and two daughters for putting them through further trauma (pictured in 2017).
At that time, Mindy flew to be at her husband’s bedside after he fell off the Swiss mountainside after Richard was left in a coma for two weeks following the accident.
On Friday, MailOnline revealed that Richard’s wife Mindy ended their marriage months ago.
The former Top Gear star had been desperately trying to save her 28-year marriage until very recently, but the couple publicly announced they were separating for good on Thursday.
Their shock split comes amid claims from insiders that it has become increasingly difficult to live with Richard in recent years due to injuries sustained in two near-fatal car crashes.
Mindy previously warned that Richard was on his “last chance,” eight years before the couple announced their marriage was over.
A source told the Mail: ‘Richard has been through a lot and the knock-on effect of the accidents has impacted their relationship.
“It is understandable, given the magnitude of the accidents and the impact caused both physically and mentally, that he has done so well to recover and return to normal life.
“But he’s been changed, there’s no way around it, and his relationship with Mindy has been damaged in the aftermath.”
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.
As part of a looming divorce battle, Mindy, 59, reportedly wants to keep £7million Bollitree Castle in Herefordshire.
Richard’s representatives declined to comment when contacted by MailOnline.
As part of an impending divorce, Mindy, 59, reportedly wants to keep £7million Bollitree Castle in Herefordshire.
In the wake of their split, Richard is said to have been banished to his converted barn where he kept his motorcycles, but has now moved to a rented property in a nearby village where he runs his ‘Smallest Cog’ car restoration shop.
Richard married Mindy in 2002 after they met in 1995, and the host previously shared that there was an instant attraction between them.