IZZY'S SAY
Richard Hammond’s daughter labels dad ‘idiot’ and says he ‘wasn’t there a lot’ – as he goes through marriage split
Richard and his wife issued a statement to let fans know they were splitting up
RICHARD Hammond’s daughter had branded her dad an ‘idiot’ while also saying he was ‘never really there.’
Izzy’s comments came just days before her famous Top Gear star dad, 55, and newspaper columnist mum Mindy, 59, shared a statement confirming the end of their 23 year marriage.
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The couple said: "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 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."
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On a podcast, Richard’s daughter Izzy was asked: “Would you call your dad a daredevil or an idiot?”
While appearing on Ben Fowler’s Road To Success earlier this week, she replied: “We've done handbrake turns around roundabouts, sorry I know that's incredibly illegal you might have to cut that out. He's an idiot.”
She continued: “He has that thing that racing drivers have where they just don't have the fear. Everyone has that line where it's like ‘okay I know where the line is’, he just doesn't have that. He really genuinely would just go and go and go.”
She also discussed how he “wasn’t there a lot” when she and her sister Willow, 22, were growing up.
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Richard’s daughter went on: “I always think it must be frustrating for my mum because probably some of my happiest memories are ironically with my dad because he wasn't there that much because he was filming.
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“He wasn't there a lot and that's all I really knew growing up.
“I mean I'm not this is sounding like I had some awful childhood, I really didn't at all.
“I think my parents were really good at navigating because they had no idea what was going to happen.
“But they were very good at sort of drip feeding information so we'd know a bit what he was doing but not enough to worry us because most of the time they were doing stupid stuff that we really shouldn't know about.”
It is believed Mindy is asking to keep their £7million Bollitree Castle estate, in Herefordshire, as they draw up divorce settlements.
The source told The Sun: “Richard is very upset about all this. It seems he has tried hard to rekindle the relationship but to no avail.
“There is no speculation that any third party is involved.”
Richard is understood to be currently staying at rented digs in a pretty village nearby where he runs his ‘Smallest Cog’ car restoration garage.
He had been kipping in a converted barn at the mock medieval castle where the couple keep a stable of thoroughbred horses.
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Mindy is proposing Richard keeps their holiday home in Buttermere in the Lake District, and his flat in London, as part of their settlement agreement.
But she is also said to have asked for a share in their horses, and an annual stipend of £500,000.
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