Richard Hammond has opened up on the medical issues he faced while filming the latest special of The Grand Tour.
Hammond, with co-stars Jeremy Clarkson and James May, endured the blistering heat of the Sahara Desert to film The Grand Tour: Sand Job, which came with its own set of unique problems for the trio.
The three have since gone into graphic detail about some of the medical side effects they faced in the unwelcoming conditions ahead of the episode's release later this month.
Hammond, 54, explained: “You’re losing all your fluids through sweat. My eyelids were sweating.
“So I was peeing sand and steam. I’m probably riddled with kidney stones as a result. You can’t drink enough.”
Speaking to The Standard, he continued: “We’re always told, ‘Stay hydrated’, but you can drink water constantly and still get dehydrated. It’s hard work. It’s exhausting, trying to drink enough.”
The group’s latest tour follows last year’s Eurocrash series and will be the car experts’ penultimate adventure together.
The motorheads will be starting in Mauritania before heading to the Sahara and later going south to Senegal.
The trio will end up at a finish line on the beach of Dakar in their own selected, modified, and second-hand sports cars.
Hammond recently opened up about the conclusion of the hit series, explaining he didn’t believe it to be the end of car adventure shows.
When asked about whether Top Gear being shelved and The Grand Tour coming to end spells the end of driving shows filled with stunts and challenges, he replied: “I very much doubt it.
“Top Gear was on hiatus when we took it on so it’ll come back one day, although in what shape I don’t know.”
Speaking to Radio Times, he continued: “The decision to buy our next car is probably the most significant contribution we can make as individuals to the future, so we need to be informed.
“Maybe that’s the route it could take? As for shows like The Grand Tour, I don’t think the human desire for adventure is ever going to be sated. It’ll continue in different forms, modified to suit its time.”
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
The next episode will launch on Amazon Prime Video on February 16.
The three car fanatics built up a strong following with Top Gear, in which they starred from 2002 to 2015.
Talking about the show ending, Clarkson recently stated: “We've done everything you can do with a car.”
Speaking to the Times, he added: "When we had meetings about what to do next, people just threw their arms in the air."
