Richard Hammond once had to sell his beloved motorbike when he couldn't afford to buy food.

Richard Hammond

Richard Hammond

The 'Grand Tour' co-host - who is now estimated to be worth around £15 million - had his credit card declined during a visit to convenience store chain Kwik Save because he had maxed it out, so he had to offload his prize and joy motorcycle and then had to walk nine miles home after selling his mode of transport.

He said: "I was always in debt for some stupid motorcycle I'd bought on a loan.

"I was generally living in little downstairs front room bed-sits in houses in Carlisle, Leeds, York, Newcastle, Cleveland, Middlesbrough. Totally flat, stony broke. I was beyond broke.

"The day arrived when I went to Kwik Save - which was a supermarket in Clitheroe, where I was living at the time - to buy my food for the week.

"My credit card was refused because it was full, and I thought, 'Well, that's that. That's literally it, there is nothing more.'

"The only option I had was to go to my motorcycle, which I kept in a little shed behind a pub opposite - I'd managed to blag that.

"I opened the door and rode the bike to Accrington, and rode round all the dealers and sold it to the one that gave me the most money for it, and then walked home to Clitheroe with the cash to live off."

Richard was working in local radio at the time, which he admitted was "not a particularly well-paid job".  

He later wished he could buy a top-of-the-range stereo, but years later when he had the cash he didn't want one any longer because he could afford it.

Speaking on 'The Andy Jaye Podcas‪t‬', he added: "I remember looking through the window of an electrical store and they had stereos in. I thought, 'Imagine that, I would like that more than anything else.'

"It wasn't until about 20 years later, maybe 24 years later, I woke up one morning and thought, 'Wait a minute, the thing I most wanted was a stereo.'

"But it didn't matter to me anymore, because I could afford one. I didn't want it anymore.

"You always want what you can't have. The moment you can have it, you don't really want it."

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