Richard Hammond and his wife Amanda “Mindy” Hammond ended their marriage after 23 years as husband and wife and about 28 years together. They announced the split in January 2025, saying they would remain a family and stay in each other’s lives for the sake of the family they had built together.
The former Top Gear and The Grand Tour presenter later confirmed that the divorce had been completed during 2025. Neither Richard nor Mindy has publicly given a detailed reason for the marriage ending, and Richard has pushed back against attempts to portray the decision as one-sided.
The Separation Was Announced in January 2025
Richard and Mindy shared the news on January 9, 2025. Their statement said their marriage was coming to an end after an “amazing 28 years together” and referred warmly to their two daughters, Izzy and Willow.
They also asked for privacy and made clear that they intended to remain part of each other’s lives. The tone was noticeably different from many high-profile celebrity breakups because neither person publicly blamed the other.
Why Did the Marriage End?
There is no confirmed public explanation identifying one specific cause.
Some newspaper reports suggested that Mindy had been the person who finally decided to end the marriage. Richard later rejected the idea that the public could reduce the breakup to one person making the decision. In a September 2025 interview, he said the statement they had issued together still represented his position.
He described the period more generally as a time of major life changes. That remains the closest he has come publicly to explaining why the marriage ended.
Was Another Person Involved?
There has been no verified report that an affair or a third party caused Richard and Mindy to separate.
Coverage around the original announcement specifically noted that the split was not being attributed to someone else. Richard and Mindy themselves did not accuse each other of infidelity in their statement.
That is important because Richard later entered a new relationship, but his new girlfriend appeared publicly well after the marriage had ended. There is no reliable evidence that the later relationship caused the divorce.
Richard Spoke About the Divorce on Television
By October 2025, Richard was openly referring to himself as divorced.
During an appearance on Good Morning Britain, he explained that the new series of Richard Hammond’s Workshop would briefly acknowledge the change in his personal life. He said he wanted to address it at the beginning and then move on rather than make the divorce the main subject of the programme.
The show also revealed that he had moved into a different home closer to his vehicle-restoration workshop. Richard tried to find a positive side to the change, pointing out the views, space for his cars and motorcycles, and the shorter journey to work.
A Difficult Period in His Life
The marriage breakup came during an unusually difficult period for Richard.
The Grand Tour era with Jeremy Clarkson and James May had reached its end, changing a professional partnership that had defined much of his adult career. Only weeks after Richard and Mindy announced their separation, Richard also revealed that his father, Alan Hammond, had died.
Richard later described the wider period as one involving several major changes at once. He did not present those events as the official cause of his divorce, but they provide context for why he described the period as particularly challenging.
Their Long Marriage Included Major Challenges
Richard and Mindy had been together since the 1990s and married in 2002.
One of the most serious experiences they faced together was Richard’s near-fatal 2006 Top Gear crash. He suffered a severe brain injury after crashing a jet-powered car at very high speed and spent time in a coma. Mindy was closely involved throughout his recovery.
Their marriage continued for many years after the accident. For that reason, it would be misleading to claim that the crash itself directly caused a divorce that occurred almost two decades later. Richard and Mindy have never publicly identified it as the reason for their split.
What Happened to the Family Home and Finances?
British tabloids published extensive speculation about how the couple’s homes, businesses and other assets might be divided, including reports concerning their Herefordshire property.
However, the complete financial terms of the divorce have not been reliably made public through a confirmed court settlement. It is therefore safer not to present individual tabloid figures as established facts.
What is publicly clear is that Richard moved away from the former family home and established a new base closer to his workshop. He has continued his television and automotive work since the divorce.
Richard Has Since Confirmed a New Relationship
In June 2026, Richard publicly acknowledged that he had a girlfriend while describing his quieter routine after the divorce.
He said that some evenings he eats alone, while at other times he is with his girlfriend or friends. Later reports identified the woman he was seeing as therapist Keira “Kiki” Glen.
The relationship appears to have developed after the breakdown of his marriage. It should therefore be treated as part of Richard’s life after divorce rather than as a proven explanation for why his marriage ended.
Where Richard and Mindy Stand Now
Richard and Mindy have largely followed the approach set out in their original announcement: they have kept the details private and avoided a public war of words.
They share two adult daughters and said from the beginning that the family they created would remain important even though the marriage was ending. Richard has also continued working closely with daughter Izzy on their podcast and other projects.
As of August 2026, Richard is divorced and has begun a new chapter in his personal life. Mindy has remained much more private.
What Is Actually Known About the Breakup?
The confirmed story is straightforward. Richard Hammond and Mindy ended a relationship that had lasted about 28 years, including 23 years of marriage. They announced the separation in January 2025, and Richard was publicly describing himself as divorced later that year.
What the public does not know is a detailed private reason. Neither spouse has identified an affair, scandal or single incident as the cause. Richard has described the divorce as part of a period of major life change and has maintained that their original joint statement still stands.
That makes the most accurate conclusion a simple one: the marriage ended after a long period together, but Richard and Mindy chose not to turn the reasons into a public story. They have instead emphasized family, privacy and moving forward separately.