Inside Richard Hammond and wife Mindy’s Christmas traditions after shocking split

Before their final Christmas together as a married couple, Richard Hammond’s wife Amanda “Mindy” Hammond once provided an insight into their festive traditions.

The former Top Gear presenter, 55, announced on Thursday that he has separated from his wife Mindy, 59, after almost three decades together. In a joint statement posted on social media, they said their union was “going to end.”

The former couple’s daughters, Izzy Hammond, 23, and Willow Hammond, 21, shared their Christmas plans in the statement. They continued, saying that they would continue to be “a family, just structured a little differently.”

Richard and Mindy have gained insight into their relationship since their 2002 union. Mindy, a newspaper columnist, opened up about their customs for the holiday season to the Express back in 2015.

She claimed at the time that Richard would “never start” Christmas without her. This might include taking time off from work. She added that the tree wouldn’t go up “until he’s home”, though admitted to doing “some secret prep”. Mindy said that Richard “always” buys a tree that’s “too big” from a tree farm in the local community.

Our decorations include items we’ve collected over the years, including their first dummies, and items they’ve made at school, Mindy continued in the interview. We have a lovely ramshackle mixture that looks a little cheesy but has sentimental meaning because the girls can pick a new tree decoration each year.

She said, “We all come downstairs and open our stockings over tea and toast,” in response to their customary Christmas Day schedule. I set aside time for my break to “run out of the stables and do the quickest muck-out I can”. She continued, “Everyone will be drinking while I’m cooking the log fires will be going, and I’ll be playing some Nat King Cole or Dean Martin, and.”

Mindy said: “If I’m super-organised, I’ll have prepared the vegetables and laid the table on Christmas Eve, but I always find no matter how organised you think you are there’s always a last-minute panic. I accidentally removed the turkey from the freezer one year, but I had to go back on Christmas Eve to find another one.

She described herself as a “terrible over-caterer” and claimed to have “tick every box” when it comes to preparing the dinner. “I need to make cranberry sauce, bread sauce, and cheesy leeks,” said Mindy. And she continued, “After lunch Richard will still eat his weight in chocolate and Turkish Delight during a mixture of telly and board games,” despite the family not typically having “any room left” for a Christmas pudding.

When Mindy questioned whether Richard was romantic when it came to presents, he responded that he was “mostly just panicked.” She however did recall that “the first enormous present” he got her had been “very romantic”. He knew it was my dream, she said, “and he bought me my first horse.” It wasn’t a surprise though”.

This week, Richard announced their separation in a statement from himself and Mindy on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday afternoon. A little update from us: “We will still be a family this year, but this year we will be a family, but structured a little differently.”

The statement continued: “Our marriage is coming to end, but we’ve had an amazing 28 years together and two incredible daughters. We are proud of the family we created and we will always be a part of one another’s lives. We won’t be commenting further, but we sincerely hope that our privacy and that of our children will be respected at this time. With Love, Richard and Mindy”.

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Source: Mirror