As Top Gear heads back to BBC2, former presenter Richard Hammond says the timing is perfect - as there’s a knowledge gap which needs to be filled.But as he shares fond memories of his time on the show alongside James May and Jeremy Clarkson, he has one extraordinary confession to make: he’s never stepped foot inside Clarkson’s Cotswold farm, Diddly Squat."I'm kind of busy running a production company, a workshop, a marketing and distribution content agency, selling a range of drinks, and having my own life,” he insists when I show my astonishment. “But we talk, of course.”All of Hammond’s energy is currently being poured into his classic car restoration business, the Smallest Cog in Herefordshire, about which he makes a programme for Discovery+ through his TV company Chimp Productions. He also has his long-running YouTube channel, DriveTribe, and his latest venture, a booze brand called Hammond Spirits.‌But hang on, surely he should get Clarkson to flog his gin, whisky and new spiced rum in his posh farm shop? They’d fly off the shelves!Apparently not. “It hadn't even occurred to me,” Hammond insists. “But by the time he'd finished putting his markup on it, it'd be a million pounds a bottle, so I don't think they'd sell any. Because that's how he operates.”Hammond famously quit Top Gear in 2015, along with May, in solidarity with Clarkson, who’d been fired for punching a producer. The programme then came off air in 2020, after the 28th series, following later presenter Freddie Flintoff’s horror crash, and hasn’t been back since.‌But last week BBC bosses announced that the huge car show is to return, and Hammond feels that it will be welcome news to many. “It's a BBC stalwart, and the national broadcaster needs to help us, as consumers, understand what car we should buy and why,” he says.“Because it's all changed. Not so many years ago, the biggest difference between cars was how many colours they came in or if it had electric windows all round or just in the front. Now they can be powered in a completely different fashion and one might work perfectly for any one person and another one might not. So any assistance in knowing which one would fit our lives best would be useful for a lot of people. We could do with some insight.”When it does return, the 56-year-old insists he won’t be wishing it was actually him back behind the wheel at the Dunsfold racetrack - or elsewhere - but he does have extremely fond memories of his time with the show, which took him all over the world and saw them “invading” the nation’s living rooms every Sunday night. “When people come up and say they used to enjoy it, it is touching and pleasing, of course it is,” he smiles. “You don't want to make TV and not have anybody watch it.”‌By the end, he says there were scores of people on the team who’d been working together for 20-odd years. “We had camera assistants who’d started at the age of 24 and were now 48 and had their own kids and families. So that was incredible. I miss it in a sense, but I wouldn't go back to it now because it was really hard work and it’s maybe a job for a younger chap. But my God, it was a privilege to get to do it, and I loved it.”This month is the 20th anniversary of his near-fatal crash in a jet-powered Vampire dragster, while filming for Top Gear in 2006. At the time, he was travelling at more than 300mph at the RAF Elvington airfield near York when a front tyre burst and he was left with a brain injury which saw him spend two weeks in a coma at Leeds General Infirmary. Thankfully, he recovered and made an emotional return to the BBC show the following year.Two decades on, he says he’s in fine fettle and is always striving to keep fit. “Still alive,” he says. “I do a lot of running and hiking. I may have signed up accidentally to do a small triathlon next year, so I'm going to have to do some swimming and cycling too. But I've always loved to keep fit, mostly for mental well-being more than anything else. It's useful time to clear your mind and think stuff through.”‌Since Top Gear he’s made six series of The Grand Tour, Amazon Prime’s answer to the BBC show, which returns with a new trio of hosts later this week.But he has no regrets about standing down from that in 2024, because he’s got so much else going on. (Unlike Clarkson, it’s not because he’s feeling “too old and fat” to get into supercars any more.) “We stepped away from our time on The Grand Tour and left them to do their thing. It's important they do, I think.”This weekend sees him launching his new spiced rum at the Salon Privé, a classic car event held at Blenheim Palace where he is again a judge for the Concours de Vente, a competition in which every vehicle entered is up for sale. As well as the brand new rum, visitors will be also able to sample his Ratio Gin and Iron Ridge Whisky, which was named Best English Single Malt at the World Whiskies Awards earlier this year.‌“I've been closely involved in developing them and I'm really proud of them,” he says. “I don't know that I'd describe myself as a boozer per se, but I think a glass of the right stuff amongst the right company can help the conversation flow.”Last year Richard and ex-wife Mindy, with whom he shares two daughters, announced the end of their 23-year marriage. He has recently been pictured holding hands with a mystery girlfriend, about whom he’s keeping tight-lipped.But it’s clear that life is going pretty well since his move across the Welsh border into Herefordshire last year. “I'm having fun with all of these things at this stage in my life. It's quite nice.”‌Elder daughter Izzy has followed him into the world of motorsport and does Formula E racing, but he says she’s following her own path. “Izzy is loving doing work in and around the automotive sphere, but it's a completely different thing to anything I've ever done. It's great watching her doing really well at it.”Speaking to Tatler earlier this year, Izzy said of her dad: “When he was my age, nothing scared him. I think I have a little bit of that. But I’m a female - so I’m less stupid.”Hammond’s younger daughter, Willow, graduated from uni last year and is “busy producing some glorious artworks” he says proudly.Perhaps he could have a go at painting, I suggest, as there is barely a hobby on earth that isn’t covered by a reality TV show these days? “No, that wouldn’t be for me,” he shudders. "I'll leave that to others, it’s just not my bag. Plus, I don't think my daughters would ever speak to me again.”‌Richard Hammond returns to Blenheim Palace as a judge for the Salon Privé (2-6 September) this weekend.Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.