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RICHARD HAMMOND TV PRESENTER ON HIS FAVOURITE GADGETS

On Top Gear Richard Hammond is the fall guy, the one who's bullied by Jeremy Clarkson. But now, after 17 years working in television, he has suddenly become flavour of the month as a presenter. He hosts the offthewall science show Brainiac on Sky One (Thursdays, 8pm), and is now embarking on a Search For The Holy Grail for the BBC. With ITV he will be helping to blow up a life-sized model of the Houses of Parliament to see what might have happened if Guy Fawkes had been successful.

His knowledge of cars makes him popular with petrolheads, while his sharp wit has helped him become an unlikely sex symbol. He finds the idea of websites devoted to him as 'very flattering, considering I was once the short bloke who was ignored at school discos'. His wife, Amanda, thinks it's hilarious. What does annoy him is the way he's called 'cute'. He insists he's not that short (he's 5ft 7in), it's just that he works alongside Clarkson who's huge. But, he says, in his own mind he's 6ft 5in, mean and moody.

DYSON ANIMAL DC15 - I remember buying a Dyson vacuum cleaner when they first came out in the Nineties because it looked so cool. Going around the house cleaning makes me feel like Darth Vader, or someone from Ghostbusters.

(Although his wife wonders how he'd know this since he 'never vacuums the house').

We now have a Dyson Animal.

Presumably it is called that because of its talent at picking up animal hair. That's important in our household, where we have cats and dogs, as well as horses and sheep.

PLAY STATION 2 - I've never been massively into computer games but I have just ordered a Play Station 2 with Gran Turismo ,which I'm very excited about. Gran Turismo is brilliant and is so accurate that, if you're a motoring journalist, it means you can sit at home and review cars without going out! When I'm home I tend to spend time with my daughters Isabella and Willow,butI'm away a lot and I'm not very good at sitting around. I get bored very quickly, so I need to keep myself occupied.

NAVMAN ICN 510 SAT-NAV SYSTEM - I don't have a brilliant sense of direction, so this has been incredibly useful. This portable sat-nav system costs about and I'm a big fan because, obviously, I change cars all the time with my job. Mine has a woman's computerised voice. She's very polite, but I'd prefer to have Joanna Lumley's voice. Imagine that, a strict Joanna Lumley. I'd go wrong deliberately just to hear her say,'Richard that's naughty, turn around.'

MORGAN V6 ROADSTER - I bought a silver Morgan V6 Roadster twoseater with red leather seats earlier this year, and it's my baby. It's made in the great British traditions of eccentricity and craftsmanship. I have filled what little boot space there is with an enormous Clarion stereo amplifier. The body is aluminium and its Jaguar-sourced engine sounds spectacular. It gets to 60mph in 4.9 seconds.

Prices start at £34,992, and that's before luxury extras, like door handles!

.iPOD MINI - I used to think, 'I've got the CDs, what's the point of an iPod?' But now I completely and utterly get it - they are brilliant, an absolutely genius idea.

I bought my iPod Mini a year ago and I'm thinking of going for a big one. The only drawback is the battery, which runs down so fast. I'm a massive fan of Tom Waits.

I also like JJ Cale and a lot of old blues, as well as some classical, Celtic stuff, Eminem and some hardcore hip-hop. I used to play in bands so I like all sorts of music.

© 2006 / 2007 - Sarah@Hammond Online

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