Richard Hammond

Top Gear TV motor presenter. Voted top ten British TV talents.

Richard is best known for co-presenting Top Gear and co-hosting the live annual motoring show, MPH. He also writes a weekly column for a national newspaper and has presented a number of other shows such as the BBC Two quiz show Petrolheads.

In July 2005, Richard won the dubious accolade of being voted number one in a Heat magazine poll of the top "weird celebrity crushes". In 2005 he was also voted one of the top 10 British TV talents.

He is sometimes referred to as "Hamster" by fans and his co-presenters on Top Gear. His nickname was further re-enforced when on two separate occasions, Richard ate cardboard, mimicking hamster-like behaviour.

On 20 September 2006, Richard was seriously injured in a car crash while filming for Top Gear at the former RAF Elvington airfield near York. He was piloting a jet-powered Vampire car, which is theoretically capable of travelling at 370mph.

He was said to be travelling at 288mph at the time of the crash. He was taken to the specialist neurological unit of the Leeds General Infirmary where he made a full recovery.

On 12 November 2006 he was back behind the wheel of his Morgan for the first time after the accident and took things at a slow pace.