Quick Answer: Mindy Hammond is a British journalist, born 6 July 1965 in Cheltenham, best known for her Daily Express columns on family and rural life. She married Richard Hammond in May 2002, has two daughters, and announced their separation in January 2025.
- Born Amanda Etheridge on 6 July 1965 in Cheltenham and now 61 years old.
- Columnist for the Daily Express and its Sunday title, S Magazine.
- Co-credited on Richard’s 2007 memoir, On the Edge: My Story.
- Two daughters: Isabella, born 2001, and Willow, born 2004.
- Met Richard in 1995, married in May 2002, and split in January 2025.
- No new partner has been confirmed by Mindy.
Early Life and Story Behind Her Name
She grew up in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, in an ordinary family with no media links, and her schooling has stayed private. IMDb lists her height as 5ft 0½in (1.54m) and records how the nickname stuck: she picked it up while dating a boy called Mark when Mork & Mindy were popular.
First Meeting With Richard and Her Writing Career
The couple met in 1995 at a PR firm in London, seven years before Top Gear made her husband a household name. The Hamster’s Cage makes a fair point: she did not enter his life once he was already famous.
Her column ran for years in the Daily Express and its Sunday supplement, S Magazine, covering family life, horses, wildlife ponds and the grind of a smallholding. The Oxford Mail has highlighted her fondness for nature, plus the less glamorous side of castle living: battles with creepy crawlies indoors. A Sun round-up shows a wider range, from lockdown life to giving the dog a haircut.
She is also co-credited on On the Edge: My Story, Richard’s 2007 memoir, written while he was still recovering. It gave readers a rare view of brain injury from the family’s side.
Marriage, Home, and Children
Richard and Mindy married on 4 May 2002. Isabella had arrived the year before, in 2001, and Willow followed in 2004. Both grew up away from cameras. Izzy now co-hosts the podcast Who We Are Now with her father on men’s mental health.
Home was Bollitree Castle in Weston-under-Penyard, near Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire. The estate came with land for farming and horses and supplied much of her material.
2006 Crash and Her Account of It
Richard crashed a jet-powered dragster at 288 mph while filming Top Gear in 2006, then spent two weeks in a coma. She later told The Telegraph:
“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’.
“Indeed, when he was allowed home five weeks later, it became clear that Richard’s memory loss was no short-term affliction.”
His memory of her came back. His short-term memory never fully did.
The Separation and Divorce
On 9 January 2025, the pair issued a joint statement:
“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 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.
“We won’t be commenting further and sincerely hope that our privacy and that of our children will be respected at this time. With love, Richard and Mindy.”
Heart’s report confirms she was 59 then and he was 55, closing 28 years together and nearly 23 years of marriage. Coverage since suggests Mindy ended it, worn down by the effects of his 2006 dragster accident and a 2017 Rimac crash in Switzerland.
She had reportedly warned him that he was on his “last chance”. Richard moved out of the £7m castle, first into a converted barn, then into a rental nearby. IMDb records the marriage as ending in September 2025. For a full breakdown, read our Richard Hammond’s divorce article.
Mindy Hammond’s New Partner
There is no confirmed partner. Tabloids have floated the idea that she may be dating again, but nothing is verified, and she has never addressed it. Her social media footprint is minimal, and she has said nothing publicly since the joint statement. On the evidence, she is single.
Richard’s New Partner
Richard is now with therapist Keira “Kiki” Glen, a governor at Headington Rye School in Oxford and a divorcee with two daughters.
He called the relationship “the best thing that’s going on for me” in an interview with The Times and admitted she pushed him into wild swimming: “My partner took one look at the lake, clapped her hands and said, ‘Oh, darling, doesn’t it just make you want to get in?'” They still appeared together at Willow’s Hartpury University graduation.
Money and Lifestyle
Press estimates place her wealth near £2m, against roughly £37m for Richard. Both are media figures, not audited accounts, but she clearly kept her income throughout.
FAQs
Q. Who is Mindy Hammond?
A. She is a British journalist and former Daily Express columnist, born in Cheltenham in 1965, and the ex-wife of presenter Richard Hammond.
Q. What does Mindy Hammond do for a living?
A. She writes. Her long-running Express and S Magazine column covered family life, animals and rural living on their Herefordshire smallholding.
Q. Does Mindy Hammond have a new partner?
A. No partner has been confirmed. Tabloid speculation exists, but she has never commented, and nothing is on record.
Q. How many children does Mindy Hammond have?
A. Two daughters with Richard Hammond: Isabella, born in 2001, and Willow, born in 2004. Both were kept out of the public eye.
Q. Why did Richard and Mindy Hammond split?
A. They announced the end of their marriage in January 2025 after 28 years together. Reports point to strain linked to his 2006 and 2017 crashes.
Q. What is Mindy Hammond’s net worth?
A. Media estimates suggest around £2m from her journalism career. No official figure exists, so treat it as approximate.
Sources & References:
- The Hamster’s Cage – She did not enter his life once he was already famous.
- Heart – She was 59 then, and he was 55, closing 28 years together and nearly 23 years of marriage.
- Oxford Mail – She has a fondness for nature and doesn’t like the glamorous side of castle living.
- The Sun – A wider range of her, from lockdown life to giving the dog a haircut.
