Richard Hammond has admitted he was ‘as worthless as a father’ when his daughters were growing up.
The Top Gear star, 53, is dad to Isabella ‘Izzy’, 22, and Willow, 20, with his wife Mindy who he married in 2002.
Speak with The Sunday timesRichard told how he struggled to take on some of the responsibilities of parenthood after Izzy was born.
He said: ‘It sounds ridiculous now considering how lucky I’ve been with my job, but there were nights I’d drive home from a shoot and park around the corner until I knew bath time was over. I was pretty crappy as a father.”
Richard recalled how Mindy became pregnant with Izzy before they were married and worked as a freelance presenter for Granada TV.
Family: Richard Hammond has admitted he was ‘worthless as a father’ while his daughters were growing up (pictured with wife Minday and daughters Izzy and Willow)
Candid: Richard opened up about how he struggled to take on some of the responsibilities of fatherhood after Izzy was born (pictured October 2023)
The couple didn’t have much money in their early days because parents and Richard said they still had financial problems after Willow’s birth.
Richard started working at Top Gear in 2002 and spent the first year constantly exhausted from all the travelling, adding that the pay wasn’t great at the time.
The presenter met Izzy’s boyfriend and admitted he was worried a younger version of himself would show up at the door when they performed for the first time.
He added: ‘I trust her judgment and I am aware that I will not be the most important man in her life forever. But as long as I am, it’s great to be friends.”
While he may have had his faults, Izzy insisted her father has more control now.
She said: ‘I now have a greater appreciation for what Dad does. He is very special, he likes things his way. He can be stubborn. It’s hard to get around that and I’m the only one who can change his mind – sometimes. At least at home he outnumbers the women three to one, otherwise God knows what he would be like.”
Elsewhere during the interview, Richard said both his daughters get along well and that growing up in the country has kept them out of the spotlight.
He also mentioned that Izzy could follow in his footsteps as she recently graduated from Bristol University and is interested in working in media.
Richard said: “There were nights when I would drive home from a shoot and park around the corner until I knew bath time was over. I was pretty crappy as a dad’ (pictured with Izzy)
Difficulties: Richard and Mindy didn’t have much money in their early days because parents and the host said they still had financial problems after Willow was born
It comes after Richard previously admitted that Izzy was concerned about her father’s financial situation after he left Top Gear with co-stars Jeremy Clarkson and James May in 2015.
The TV presenter revealed Izzy humiliated him and James May in KFC when she joked they had lost their £500,000 salary because of Jeremy.
Richard explained on the Fueling Around podcast: ‘After we finished the show, James came to stay with me for a few days. We went to Kentucky Fried Chicken to get lunch for everyone with Izzy.
‘We got to the front of the queue, placed our order and James usually said, ‘Oh, oh, I’ll pay Hammond’ and I said ‘no, no mate, I’ll pay’ and he said ‘no’, no, no, I’ll pay .’
“And there was a pause, just as the whole restaurant had gone silent, and Izzy said, ‘Technically guys, I should pay because you don’t have a job between you.’ And the place exploded with laughter.”
He added: ‘She was clearly thinking ‘this is the best game’ at the time. So later, at the end of the queue in Morrisons, as I waited to pay, she said very loudly, ‘Dad, Dad, when will your credit card stop working?’ and I said, ‘Oh, for God’s sake,’ and again a whole group of people were hysterical.”