Richard Hammond has announced that he and his wife Mindy are separating after 28 years of marriage.

On Thursday afternoon, the former Top Gear and The Grand Tour host wrote on X: “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.”

Reiterating his love for his family, Richard added: “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.”

Richard and Mindy tied the knot in 2002. They share two grown-up children, 24-year-old Isabella and 22-year-old Willow.

As well as this latest news from his personal life, Richard also recently went through some big changes in his professional life.

Last year, after working together for more than two decades, Richard and co-hosts James May and Jeremy Clarkson announced that they’d be going their separate ways, with their show The Grand Tour getting a new presenting team.

Speaking about this decision back in September, Richard said: “It will be carrying on. The Grand Tour continues, we’re stepping away as the hosts, but Prime will be continuing it.

He added that he was very much looking forward to the “amazing” prospect of “sit[ting] on my own chair and watch[ing] somebody else do it”.

“I can’t wait,” he enthused.

James May echoed this sentiment, saying: “I think Jeremy, Richard and I gave the format a really good thrashing and now it’s time to let a younger generation have a go.”