By Neil Shaw

Copyright walesonline

Richard Hammond says he is determined to be positive following a series of personal blows. This year, the 55-year-old presenter lost his beloved father to cancer and his 23-year marriage ended, while he also revealed he lost half a million pounds on his car business but insisted he is doing his best to remain upbeat. He told The Daily Mail: “I’m 55. Things change. That’s what happens at this age. I’ve always believed – and this sounds like therapy talk but it was my own thought – that nothing has happened to you until you react to it. It’s your reaction that defines it. Absolutely. You have total choice on that. I include my brain injury [when he ended up in a coma after crashing a jet-powered dragster at super high speed in 2006] and the recovery afterwards. “Whatever happens to us, we can decide. Maybe not in the moment: I didn’t decide, as the car was going over at 320mph: I’m going to make this a good thing.’ But there came a moment when I thought, Right, my reaction to this is going to be positive. That’s what you have to do. Well, it’s what I do.” Richard addresses the breakdown of his marriage in the first episode of his new series of Richard Hammond’s Workshop. He explains: “Let’s get something out of the way straight away. There has been a slight change in my circumstances recently. I got divorced. Which means I now live here. I like it. It’s got amazing views, a place to keep some of my cars and bikes and best of all it’s closer to the workshop. I’m trying to put a silver lining on this. It’s been a tough few years, but it’s not all bad.” When asked about the circumstances of the break-up, he told The Daily Mail: “In terms of that particular issue that’s a decision we took, as we said at the time. We put out a statement and it still stands.” When asked about a new relationship, he said: “Oh, I don’t know. I haven’t got time. Right now I’m coming to the end of a series and then… that will be for me to think about.’ Richard’s TV series follows the progress of The Smallest Cog, the garage he set up five years ago to repair his own classic cars and others and he admitted it has not been a roaring success. He said: “We’ve been through the mill. Bloody hell, it’s been hard at times. Because of my lack of management ability and the market: it’s not an easy time to be setting out to restore expensive cars, when people are more concerned about the rising cost of living.” When asked if he had lost money, he admitted “half [a million]” and said: “And also, I sold a load of my cars and bikes when I set up, to buy all the expensive equipment. I sold a Lotus Esprit 350 Sport, a Bentley S2, a 1969 Porsche 911T, a Honda Gold Wing, a Kawasaki Z900…’ Most weeks I’ve thought, “This just doesn’t work.’”