It’s hard to imagine that Mindy Hammond once joyfully declared that her family was ‘lucky’.
Yet in the aftermath of her husband Richard’s near-fatal accident when he crashed a Top Gear jet car at 288mph in 2006, suffering a debilitating brain injury, the TV presenter’s wife was insistent that she had a lot to be thankful for.
‘We were lucky… I’m forever grateful that our marriage survived where others have disintegrated. It sounds terribly naff, but I really do believe it has made us stronger,’ she said at the time.
Certainly, the gruelling experience of watching her husband fight for his life – she scarcely left his bedside while he was in a coma, lying silent for a full fortnight – proved Mindy had a strength few could fail to be impressed by.
Nineteen years on, and much has changed.
For late last year, the devoted Mindy told Richard that their previously ‘amazing’ 28-year marriage was over.
I can reveal that the 55-year-old multi-millionaire was ‘blindsided’ by her decision to dump him – despite Mindy warning Richard he was on his ‘last chance’ eight years before the couple announced their marriage was over.
‘It was a case that he didn’t really think it would ever happen,’ said a source close to the family. ‘But Mindy has been through so much, she has had to pick up the pieces so many times.’
Late last year, Mindy told Richard their previously ‘amazing’ marriage was over
The 55-year-old suffered a near-fatal crash in 2006 while filming a Top Gear episode
The multi-millionaire was behind the wheel in 2017 for another collision, which saw him airlifted to a Swiss hospital
Mindy, who turns 60 this year, made the decision ‘around November time’, say friends, but the couple decided to go public only on Thursday.
Sources say Mindy grew tired of Richard’s obsession with cars, having not only had to deal with his crash in 2006, but another one in 2017 when he was airlifted to hospital in Switzerland after a smash described by co-star Jeremy Clarkson as ‘the most frightening [and] biggest I’ve ever seen’.
This time Richard escaped with a broken knee, climbing out of the electric supercar seconds before it burst into flames.
‘Richard had two really horrid smashes and things like that change you,’ one source said. ‘For Mindy, she has had to nurse him, care for him, as well as being a mother to their daughters, Isabella and Willow.
‘This becomes more and more difficult. You can’t blame Mindy for wanting to have a bit of time for herself now her kids are older.’
Unlike other celebrity break-ups, here it appears to be cars who have been the third party, rather than another woman or man. Sources close to the couple confirm nobody else is involved.
The couple’s statement announcing their decision was the model of mutual respect: ‘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.’
For all this, though, friends fear things could turn ugly.
Richard and Mindy with their two daughters, Izzy, centre left, and Willow
Richard had been living in a renovated barn on the castle grounds following the split, but is now living in a rented property near the estate.
One former colleague of Richard’s said Mindy is thought to have requested to keep their £7million 15th-century Grade II-listed property, bought in 2008, which has six bedrooms, a pool and 20 acres of land, as well as half of his business, The Smallest Cog car restoration workshop.
‘While it sounds bad that Richard was booted out to a barn, it’s quite a nice one,’ a source said. ‘But having to move out of the family home is heartbreaking – he has worked hard for that but she has been through a lot with Richard and has worked tirelessly to keep him in one piece.
‘Mindy will be 60 soon and that is a pivotal time for a woman. She has devoted her life to Richard – now it’s time for her.’
For his part, Richard has long been effusive about his love for his newspaper-columnist wife, once telling an interviewer: ‘I’m very lucky, I married my best friend. I know that sounds really cheesy, but she genuinely is. We understand one another better than anyone else does.’
Indeed, the levels of understanding Mindy had to show Richard while he recuperated from his devastating brain injury were almost saintly.
In 2019, she said: ‘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.” When he was allowed home five weeks later, it became clear that Richard’s memory loss was no short-term affliction. He didn’t seem capable of retaining information for more than ten seconds, and found himself reading the same newspaper page again and again.
‘Richard’s personality also changed, and he became prone to mood swings and depression.
‘One particularly unpleasant moment came at the breakfast table. I watched as his face morphed into a raft of different expressions, changing second by second. Then, one summer’s afternoon, Richard turned to me and said: “Get the girls and get out of the house now.” I told him to relax, but he said, “No, just get out”. He could feel the anger welling up, and was afraid that he might not be able to control himself.
‘It must have been utterly terrifying for him.’
And for her. Indeed, it’s notable that their children are now in their 20s, and better able to fend for themselves. Aged just six and three at the time of his first accident, and in their crucial teenage years at the time of his second, there can be little doubt that having to act as both as a wife to an accident-prone adrenaline junkie and a caring mother took its toll.
At the time of Richard’s second accident in 2017, Mindy wrote of hearing the news while ‘in the centre of Cheltenham with our 16-year-old daughter Izzy, shopping for a party we were going to that night’.
‘We put our arms around each other and kept reassuring one another, “He’s OK. Nothing to worry about.” “It’s OK, we’ve spoken to him. He’ll be fine.”
‘But in the back of my mind – and Izzy’s too – were the memories of his last accident. I’m not a panicker, but I almost went to pieces this time…’
Since their break-up, Richard has been seeking solace in restoring his beloved cars.
He has been supported by a group of local friends who have been at his side as he comes to terms with being a single man in his mid-50s.
‘Richard has been splitting his time between the local pub and his business – he is trying to keep a smile on his face as he contemplates where his life goes next,’ a friend said.
For Mindy, though, the world finally appears to be one free from petrol-heads and high-speed cars. At last, she’s living life very much in her own lane.