Vijay Pattni catches up with Top Gear presenter and self-confessed petrolhead Richard Hammond on Top Gear Live, quitting the show, and who has the best hair…

“We don’t spend a lot of time grooming – as you can imagine. It’s not something of which we have a particular opinion.”

Richard Hammond – star of BBC2’s hit motoring programme Top Gear – stifles a laugh and draws in a deep breath, despite a poll revealing he has the best hair on TV.

“I think all three of us subscribe to the same view in that, we don’t have a hairstyle, so much as just having ‘some hair’.”

Hammond – affectionately nicknamed ‘Hamster’ by co-hosts Jeremy Clarkson and James May – is one of the nation’s most cherished television personalities.

288mph horror smash

But Richard has seen more testing times. In 2006 he was filming a segment for Top Gear at Elvington airfield in York, when his jet-propelled ‘Vampire’ dragster flipped over and crashed at a terrifying speed of 288mph.

The accident left Richard in a critical condition for weeks, with doctors fearing for his life.

“I very nearly quit everything”, says Richard. “I very nearly quit Top Gear.”

But Richard’s recovery was nothing short of astonishing. Within weeks he was moving around and has since made a full recovery – wowing doctors and medical staff.

And now there’s nothing holding the bona-fide adrenaline junkie back.

“Once I got better I never wanted to quit”, he says.

Top Gear, Tower Bridge and a Tank

A fact no more aptly displayed than last week, when the diminutive star joined his co-presenters to bring London to a standstill – by driving a huge tank across Tower Bridge.

“It was ridiculous”, laughs Richard. “Actually, it was quite good fun. It was very noisy, but the ride in that thing was surprisingly good. I must complement it on that.”

So whose idea was it to ride across one of London’s most famous landmarks in a big black tank?

“I don’t really know – these things just seem to pop up around us three.”

View images of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May cross Tower Bridge in a tank

The trio were at the launch of Top Gear Live – a live-action extravaganza which will debut at this year’s MPH motorshow in October and features cars, stunt motorcycles, and a 30ft high robot named “Swampy”…

Richard perks up: “I can’t wait to start Top Gear Live – it’s hugely good fun to do. We really are going beserk with the set to turn it into Top Gear Live. It’s going to be a lot more technically advanced than in the past.

“At the end of the day I really love doing it because we have such a laugh. So it’s always great fun to do.

So what about “Swampy”?

“‘Swampy’ will have motorcycles coming out of him – it will be some spectacle, there’s absolutely no doubt about that”, assures Richard.

New Top Gear

So what’s coming up in the new series of Top Gear?

“Oh God, there are going to be some great challenges between the three of us – we’re in the process of filming for those now. The competition, as always, will ramp up.”

Speaking of competition, the trio recently switched on the Blackpool lights – and somehow managed to turn the event into a Top Gear race.

“Because of what we were driving, the race was really, really tense.”

But we’ll have to wait for the new series to find out what cars the three chose.

“I can’t give away what the cars were because it would give too much away, but it wasn’t what you would expect. However, it is very relevant to today’s motorist…”

“It really was very tense!”

Richard’s life however, could have turned out very different…

Back to nature

“When I was a kid I always wanted to make nature documentaries – that’s what I really wanted to do. How I ended up doing this, I just don’t know…

“Richard Attenborough was my absolute hero as a kid. But if I wasn’t working on Top Gear, I’d be in radio or some other telly show – probably trying to get on Top Gear.”

But even as a presenter on the nation’s biggest motoring show, Richard still feels he has to ‘get on’ Top Gear.

“Put it this way: I stand in the background while two fat middle-aged men shout a lot and argue about speed. And wear bad shirts and jeans. And that’s about it.”

So why does Richard get the so-called ‘short straws’ in all the challenges?

View images of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May cross Tower Bridge in a tank

Let’s get physical

“I always get asked this and I always reply with: ‘Well why the bloody hell do you think?’

“When we went to the North Pole I ran 40 miles a day in –50C weather. Clearly, those two aren’t going to manage that are they?

“James would have a heart attack just getting on the bloody sledge, and Jeremy would have a hernia just thinking about it.

Top Gear's Arctic Truck

“James May thinks exercise makes you stupid – so I don’t think it’s a case of drawing the short straws. It’s more a case of being the only way it could possibly work.”

And another thing which definitely ‘works’ is the on-screen camaraderie between the three hosts.

“We’re exactly like you see on the television – we do too much together to pretend.”

Teeth whitening

So if they do ‘too much together’, is Jeremy Clarkson right? Has Richard Hammond had his teeth whitened?

“No I haven’t”, Richard laughs, “but I probably would. I’m just not that bothered really.”

Even without his teeth being whitened, Richard is still a pin-up, adored by fans up and down the nation – even gracing Heat magazine’s ‘weird crushes’.

“I was voted on originally and then got voted off – for James May. I must be honest that is a pretty bloody weird crush. So he would win that wouldn’t he?”

African Auto Trader?

So does Richard ever use Auto Trader?

“Yes I do – bloody hell, I grew up staring at it.

“As a 17-year-old I used to work on a chicken farm. I’d ride my bicycle on the way home, and if I had any money I’d pick up a copy of Auto Trader, sit there and read through every page.

“I actually mentioned Auto Trader in my new book – As You Do – because when we were looking for ‘Oliver’ over there, I found the Johannesburg Auto Trader, which was wonderfully convenient!”

Richard Hammond's new book - "AS YOU DO - Adventures with Evel, Oliver, and The Vice-President Of Botswana",will hit bookshelves on 18th September 2008, at £18.99.

Watch Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May cross Tower Bridge in a tank:

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