Richard Hammond has acknowledged his ‘hideous traits’ and claimed that being a male TV presenter is ‘catastrophic for mental health’.

The former Top Gear presenter, 55, opened up to his daughter Izzy on their joint podcast, weeks after his split from wife-of-28-years Mindy was made public. 

The father-daughter duo were joined on the Who We Are Now podcast by Steve Jones – and the Welsh presenter’s presence inspired Richard to make the candid confession. 

Richard said: ‘As a bloke, keeping your head straight, managing your mental fitness. I think being a television presenter, especially a male one, is catastrophic.’

Continuing on how his TV career has impacted him personally, Richard added: ‘For 36 years my male ego has been rewarded for some of the worst traits we can exhibit. 

‘I’ve been encouraged to show off, I’ve been encourage to believe that what I’m about to say is compelling enough to hold the attention of 365million people that my questions are pertinent. It can be hideous.’

Richard Hammond has acknowledged his ‘hideous traits’ and claimed that being a male TV presenter is ‘catastrophic for mental health’ (Pictured with ex wife Mindy in October 2023)

Richard said: ‘As a bloke, keeping your head straight, managing your mental fitness. I think being a television presenter, especially a male one, is catastrophic’

‘I’m perfect of course,’ the presenter joked, before he put on a wheezy voice and added: ‘Completely balanced and happy.’ 

F1 presneter Steve actually started out his career in modelling and was scouted on two occasions, and Richard compared the Welsh hunk’s good looks to his own.

‘I’d like to put something heavy in here,’ Richard began. ‘This is the sum of your roots, as a TV presenter and as a model, as somebody who was spotted twice then rejected. 

‘I was a TV presenter when you started presenting, I saw him and thought “Oh bugger look at him, I mean look at him”. A bit of me was thinking “Yeah Welsh hunk, nobody has ever said brummy hunk Richard Hammond”.’

Later in the episode, Steve spoke about how he likes to stay busy at which point Richard again referenced his looks.

‘I hate having nothing to do because a lot of what we do in TV presenting, I think, in my case, is compensatory,’ Richard said. 

‘I am shorter, of course I’m shorter than you. Thank you nature.’

The comment appeared to come as a surprise to his daughter Izzy, who stepped in to ask: ‘Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it? You’re really revealing some stuff.’ 

The former Top Gear presenter, 55, opened up to his daughter Izzy (Pictured) on their joint podcast, weeks after his split from wife-of-28-years Mindy was made public

The father-daughter duo were joined on the Who We Are Now podcast by Steve Jones (Pictured) – and the Welsh presenter’s presence inspired Richard to make the candid confession

Richard explained that his mentions of Steve’s attractiveness were because he was curious if Steve had ever worried that women only date him for his looks.

After Steve had left, Izzy readdressed the issue as the pair wrapped up the episode. 

She said: ‘Do you want to talk about something? I don’t think you’re jealous of Steve but I think you’re quite upset that he’s a good looking man.’

‘Only because you can’t miss it when he walks in the room, it’s like “Oh look at you we’re the same species”,’ Richard said. ‘And if I was from another planet I’d think “Those are two different animals there”.’

The candid confession comes less than two weeks after he confirmed he had split from his wife Mindy – and had been staying in the barn outside their home since August.  

Richard reportedly ‘tried everything’ to save his marriage for almost 18 months before he eventually accepted that it was over for good with his wife Mindy. 

‘He tried everything,’ a source told The Sun. ‘He hoped they could live separately at the same address under different roofs, but Mindy pushed for a full divorce.

‘He even whisked her away to the South of France to patch things up, but it just didn’t work.’

The candid confession comes less than two weeks after he confirmed he had split from his wife Mindy – and had been staying in the barn outside their home since August (pictured in 2006)

The couple married in 2002, and they share daughters Isabella, 24, and Willow, 22

And while he did everything he could to save it, Richard was made to move into a converted barn in his family home, Bollitree Castle in Herefordshire, in August 2023. 

During this time, Mindy confessed that she’s ‘had enough’ and now Richard is living in rented accommodation short commute away which is close to his motor business, The Smallest Cog.

Earlier this month, Richard took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to confirm the split after 23 years of marriage.  

He penned: ‘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 an 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.’