Richard Hammond is the host of Top Gear. Biography, career

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

A person who can cause not only admiration, but also a smile of tenderness. The favorite of the public and colleagues on the set. A scorcher, an auto mechanic and just a guy who is able to think deeply and convey his conclusions to society. It is unlikely that modern television could exist without this frame - after all, few people already represent Top Gear without the most charming presenter on BBC 2.

Little Richie from Birmingham

Richard Hammond was born on a not-so-frosty winter day in the late 1960s (namely, December 19, 1969) into a large British family, becoming the next son of a young couple - Alan and Ailey. This happy event took place in Birmingham, the Kingdom of Great Britain. In addition to the boy, the couple also had two sons - Nicholas and Andrew.

Like a true Brit, Richard Hammond, whose age is now known to all his fans, grew up as a restrained and conservative boy - he did not break his knees, inhe didn’t get into trouble, but on the contrary, he was inquisitive and discovered something new in the world of science and technology.

When the guy turned 16, the family decided to leave his hometown and move to the small market town of Ripon, which is located in Yorkshire. For a while, young Richie attended grammar school, but after that, the craving for technology still prevailed, and he entered the College of Art and Technology. There, the guy struck up a close friendship with one of the academicians (Jonathan Baldwin). Among other things, Hammond also took photography courses.

Artist Lucky Star

Ritchie's path to universal recognition turned out to be difficult and very thorny. The young hero began his stellar career as a radio host. This work was easy for him, so he had to combine work at several stations at the same time. So, he was remembered by listeners of Radio Newcastle, Lancashire, Cumbria, Cleveland and York.

The beginning of the 2000s was very successful for Hammond. Firstly, he entered into a legal marriage with his beloved woman (over time, his wife bore him two daughters). Well, and secondly, the hero was finally able to break through to the TV screens of American residents.

As they say, if the finest hour has come, then you just need to grab luck by the tail and take everything you need from the opportunities provided. And so it happened. Richard Hammond got into Top Gear shortly after he came as the host of thematic programs onMens and Motors channel. It was 2002.

But… not without falls

Thanks to his participation as a key character in the legendary show, Richard Hammond (whose participation was eagerly awaited weekly not only by every self-respecting American, but by every other inhabitant of this planet) nevertheless achieved that very vaunted popularity and universal recognition. So several years passed - issue after issue, plot after plot, a curious story after a dangerous one, and vice versa. Our hero got the funny nickname "hamster" and constantly justified it in practice - he would eat a cardboard box, or even use up a tube of whitening toothpaste in one sitting. He became a favorite not only of the public, but also of his faithful comrades on the site.

In September 2006, Richard tested the legendary Vampire in an attempt to break the world record. Testing took place at the former Royal Air Force Circuit. It just so happened that Hammond lost control and became a member of a terrible disaster. At that time, no one could give guarantees - whether the presenter would survive. But against the odds, Richie pulled through and showed his snow-white smile after a tube of pasta again.

Life outside the scenes

Undoubtedly, he was made for the set - Richard Hammond (films with which you are unlikely to see, because he is a showman to the bone), a favorite of women, teenagers and the most ordinary motorists. Together with his wife and two daughters (Willow and Isabella), he lives in a decent house on the outskirts of Payford.(Gloucestershire, which is near Cheltenham).

Off the set, the famous TV presenter is a wonderful amateur farmer who keeps a small paddock of chickens and sheep. In addition, the Hammond family managed to acquire several dogs and even horses. In general, Richie is a wonderful husband and father, off the screen he lives a calm and measured life.

Richard Hammond: scientific nonsense

By the time the public got used to the host's various antics and even got a little tired of them, the hero's outrageous ideas were not long in coming. Richard Hammond presented to the world his new development - an expensive bicycle, which was based on the model of the legendary car - Ferrari. He called his brainchild very intricately - Fahrradi Farfall FFX.

As the developer himself stated, the discovery will not drive at the speed of its prototype and will not imitate the roar of a motor, for example. But, in return for all this, the bike exactly repeats the shape of the car, and besides, it costs fabulous money - several times more expensive than the original version.

In general, as you already understood, you still have to pedal. The invention weighs about a centner, which indicates its uncomplicated filling, but at the same time the original box, like for a bicycle. "Engineering ideas" with Richard Hammond never cease to amaze - this man, perhaps, will show himself in the world of science.

Ritchie on modern discoveries

The developer of the outrageous velomobile himself has a very positive attitude towards various kinds of novelties of science and technology,related in any way to the modest world of the motorist. Richie enjoys using sat-nav, delayed engine warm-up and many other nice little things that are designed to make our lives more comfortable.

But Hammond has an unfulfilled dream. As he himself admits, he would very much like to develop (well, or wait for the moment when some other researcher does it) such a system that will allow motorists to be warned about an impending danger: be it a truck rushing around a bend or wild animals running across road after a few hundred meters.

The showman does not deny: maybe someone will not like this idea, but still he does not want to stop believing in his bright dream.

Motorists - who are they to Richie?

Probably a Top Gear host should respect what he represents. That is how it is. Despite the fact that Richard Hammond is a notorious biker who prefers to go to the track at a dashing speed and each time risk his own life for the next dose of adrenaline, he still respects motorists - from young to old. For him, this category of people is like a separate nation, with its own laws, law enforcement officers and even violators - well, where without them?

In one of the programs, by the way, the presenter complained about truckers. As he himself stated, with all due respect to them (and it seems to him that this feeling is mutual), sometimes it happensso that representatives of this profession often consider themselves the most right on the road. This opinion often arises due to their habit of blocking the track, ostensibly for the safety of everyone moving behind. Here is an interesting observation from our hero. Richie himself is indignant about this, although he respects the truckers very much - after all, they often give him a place so that he slips on his bike.

A couple of values lessons from a Top Gear star

Every fan of this legendary show probably knows that Richard Hammond is not only an excellent tester, mechanic and racer, but also a storehouse of folk wisdom. In his words, you can often hear a deep subtext about our life values and that each of us cares somewhere in the soul.

I wonder what our hero would say, being next to us now or having the opportunity to give some parting words for the coming day, so to speak? Perhaps now we would hear from him something like: do not give up what you love, under any circumstances in life, and if you have already set any goal for yourself, then please, do not turn off on the way to your dream, because by betraying it, you, first of all, cheat on yourself.