Richard Hammond forgot he was married after crash... then chatted up his own wife

The presenter, 37, nicknamed the Hamster, said he thought his real wife was French.

He tells Jonathan Ross tonight: "I didn't forget Mindy, I fancied her - thank God - I attempted to chat her up."

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Richard Hammond with wife Mindy: The Top Gear presenter's 315mph crash affected his memory and made him forget he was married

Mindy, who has co-written Hammond's book On The Edge: My Story, which documents life before and after the crash, said: "He didn't believe we were married.

"He said 'you're lovely, but I've got to stop talking to you because I've got to go back to my wife, she's French'."

Hammond says of his recovery: "It was a big event, it's a long old journey.

"You get to the end of each week and realise you weren't actually better, and it goes on and on.

"Whole periods have just gone. I had a 22-second memory, very confusing for weeks (but) I can daydream now, it's all fixed.

"It was frightening, a real lesson for me. Damage can mend, it's a big bowl of porridge that revives itself if you're very lucky ... which I was."

Hammond was left fighting for his life after a 315mph smash in a rocket-powered car last year.