‘Top Gear’ star opened up about dealing with ‘tremendous grief’. Richard Hammond has announced the death of his father, Alan Hammond. Hammond revealed that he had been experiencing “tremendous grief” when he told podcast guest, a psychiatrist called Dr T, that his father had died. Hammond said: “I have to say quite early on that since we spoke to Professor Green [for the podcast] and since then, we've lost my father, Izzy's grandfather. He died. Probably both of us are undergoing change right now.”.
![[Richard and Amanda Hammond pictured in 2011]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/09/14/newFile-10.jpg)
The episode, which was centred around the science of connection, saw Hammond and his daughter get insight from the mental health expert on how our brains process the loss of a loved one. Hammond opened up about the grief of his father’s death, saying: “I’ve noticed that since we lost my dad I don’t wander around daily in a cloud of… there was tremendous grief, of course there was, he was my dad, but it’s kind of in the background.”.
“And when it hits me is when I’m pottering about doing something often inconsequential, or thinking about something big, my brain has already formed the thought, “oh, I must tell dad”. Hammond’s father Alan worked as a legal executive in North Yorkshire before later becoming an author. The presenter previously credited his father for encouraging his motoring interests from a young age, and for helping him build his first bike as a teenager.
He continued: “I remember Dad and me working out when I was five how many days it would be before I could ride a motorbike. I didn't stop badgering him about getting one. I had motorbike wallpaper; knew every bike on the road. On my 16th birthday, they handed me my first set of keys – to a 49cc Honda – and off I sped. It was incredibly brave of them to let me have one.”. The news comes just weeks after Hammond and his wife, the newspaper columnist Amanda, announced their divorce after 28 years together.
In a statement shared online in January, the pair said: “A little update from us; this Christmas we were together as a family and this year we will still be a family but just structured a bit differently. “Our marriage is coming to 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.
