Former British Rally Championship driver Penny Mallory joins hosts Jason Plato and Dave Vitty in the latest episode of award-winning podcast Fuelling Around.
Mallory was the first woman to drive a World Rally car in what was then a male-dominated industry. She has also been a TV presenter alongside our own Plato, and is currently a world leading motivational coach.
In a jam-packed episode, she recalls how she was a trailblazer in the world of motorsport, how she fell in love with cars while watching Grandstand as a child, the amazing cars she has bought and driven, her new book, and how she became a motivational coach.
Penny Mallory reveals how Richard Hammond was perceived before Top Gear
This isn’t the first time Mallory and Plato’s paths have crossed, having both presented Channel 4’s motoring show Driven. During the audition process, Plato saw off stiff competition to present the show; including former Top Gear and The Grand Tour star Richard Hammond.
However, Hammond wasn’t perceived well in the audition stages as Mallory points out on the podcast: “I don’t know if you remember, but when the producers, me and Mike (Brewer) were talking about all the screen tests, they said ‘this guy called Richard Hammond has come in. He’s a little bit cheesy and probably hasn’t got much of a future on TV,’ that’s exactly what they said,” she recalled.
“And what did anyone know at that time because he’s just gone into a superstar, but I remember that being said very, very clearly.
“He was doing Men and Motors for years, and he worked harder than anyone else, and he worked for no money and all he wanted was a big break on telly.
“That was probably the biggest kick in the guts when he didn’t get that gig, but then of course he’s overtaken everybody in TV stardom.”
Plenty more episodes of Fuelling Around to enjoy
Series six has got off to a flying start, but if you haven’t listened to Fuelling Around before, you’ll be glad to know there’s a wealth of previous episodes from five series for you to listen to.
A host of celebrity guests have littered the award-winning podcast that has so far produced a string of excellent episodes to listen to.
You can also tune into Fuelling Around on Spotify, Apple, YouTube or various other platforms if you want to see what all the fuss is about.