Richard Hammond reveals the secret to a healthy marriage

Husbands should take an interest in the weekly shop to keep marriages healthy, Richard Hammond has said.

The Grand Tour presenter has been married to his wife Mindy for 22 years and has shared his own secret to a successful union.

While not known for his relationship advice, the presenter has stated that it is vital for husbands to maintain a thorough knowledge of what is in the fridge at any given time.

Hammond, 58, said that this kind of attention to detail outweighs the importance of grand romantic gestures in ensuing successful marriage.

The former Top Gear host said: “Stay connected. It’s not the big times, it’s the small times.

“It’s not the big family holidays or 21st birthday parties or remembering your anniversaries, or treating yourself to a night in a hotel.

“It’s going to the supermarket. Stay connected at that level, know what’s in the fridge, know what cleaning products you use in the house, stay connected to that.”

He added that it was important to “stay connected to the small things as eagerly as the big things”.

His comments come following several years of research into the “mental load” couples often bear in relationships.

This refers to the continual mental to-do list of managing everything from childcare responsibilities, to knowing what needs to be booth during the weekly shop.

A 2019 study by academics at Harvard found that, despite the best intentions of many couples, women would end up doing the lion’s share of this work, and be the ones forced to draw up the shopping lists.

Hammond recently stated that a reunion with Jeremy Clarkson and James May was unlikely, saying on the BBC’s Today podcast that “we’re not going to make another series together about cars”.

He added: “When I started doing it in 2003, I thought this was a bit of a laugh and maybe it would last a few years.

“Here we are grey, wizened and sagging and we’ve only just stopped doing it and it’s quite remarkable.”