Richard Hammond – "I've heard people say, 'my mental health is my right. No, it bloody isn't! It's your responsibility"

Driven by a lifelong passion for running and weight training, motoring presenter Richard Hammond says it's good for blokes to maintain their bodywork. He talks to MF about masculinity, mindful runs, and why eating fish and chips can be good for you

Blokes are allowed to consider selfmaintenance now,” declares Richard Hammond, with a mix of triumph and relief. “And it’s great! We should. It makes us nicer, better people. We’re not really blundering idiots who don’t care about ourselves or others.”

Through Hammond’s work on boisterous motoring shows like Top Gear and The Grand Tour, we’re used to seeing him enjoying thrill-seeking adventures and blokey banter, not offering heartfelt meditations on men’s health. But following those high-profile crashes – Hammond spent two weeks in a coma after crashing a jet-powered Vampire dragster at 288mph on a Yorkshire airfield in 2006, then shattered his left knee when he sent a Rimac Concept One supercar tumbling into a Swiss ravine in 2017 – health has become a serious subject for the 52-year-old.

The truth is that Hammond has enjoyed morning runs and weight-lifting sessions for decades. But the effects of those crashes – which ranged from painful physical rehab to dark bouts of depression – have crystallised his views on men’s health.

“I’m lucky,” he says, “because I was brain-injured in that crash, so I spent a lot of time contemplating my mental health. So I’m very alert to the influence of neurochemicals – endorphins and everything else – and the difference in me when I’ve been for a run, or eaten carefully, or exercised mindfully, which is really critical.”

Healthy balance