F1 Star James Hunt Let a Hollywood Legend Pay His $1 Million Divorce Settlement After the Actor Fell for His Wife – Who Was the Other Man?

Away from the racetrack, the F1 star's private life was moving almost as quickly as his career. His troubled marriage eventually became entwined with one of Hollywood's most famous romances, culminating in an unusual divorce arrangement.

James Hunt reached the pinnacle of Formula One in 1976 when he became world champion, but his success on the track unfolded alongside an eventful personal life that also attracted considerable attention.

The British racing driver, known for both his speed and his hard-living lifestyle, spent much of that championship year disentangling himself from a marriage that had already begun falling apart.

At the start of 1976, Hunt was still married to former model Suzy Miller. Their relationship had moved remarkably quickly after they met in Spain in 1974, when Miller was 24 and Hunt was a year older.

Miller had spent much of her childhood in southern Rhodesia — modern-day Zimbabwe — with her expatriate parents, twin sister Vivienne, and brother John. She made a strong impression on those around her, and Hunt was no exception. After only a matter of weeks, he proposed.

In the four days before the wedding at the Brompton Oratory in Kensington, England, Hunt was reportedly never sober.

Almost immediately, however, doubts surfaced. Hunt told friends that he was unsure why he had become engaged. Although he wanted Miller as his girlfriend and recognized the social appeal of having her by his side, he remained attracted to other women.

Nevertheless, he decided to proceed with the marriage. His uncertainty was still apparent at the couple's engagement party at his brother Peter Hunt's apartment.

Among the guests was the racer's former girlfriend, Taormina Rieck, with whom he had remained close after their breakup. Hunt admitted to Rieck that he did not want to marry Miller. "I don't know why I'm doing this," he confessed.

"Well, why the hell are you, you silly clot?" Rieck replied. According to her recollection, the F1 star believed matters had progressed too far for him to withdraw.

His doubts were compounded by his difficulty remaining faithful, and marriage increasingly became something he appeared to dread rather than embrace. In the four days before the wedding at the Brompton Oratory in Kensington, England, Hunt was reportedly never sober.

On the morning of the ceremony, he started drinking beer at six a.m. and later had Bloody Marys before heading to the church. Reflecting on the day afterward, he admitted:

"I just couldn't handle the whole scene, so I went out and got blind, roaring drunk."

The unconventional start continued into the honeymoon in Antigua. Furthermore, rather than traveling alone with his new wife, Hunt invited his best friend, Hesketh Formula One team manager Anthony "Bubbles" Horsley, and Horsley’s new bride to accompany them.

The Hunts' Marriage Began to Unravel

Once the newlyweds returned to Spain, Miller found herself spending considerable time without her husband. She wanted a settled family life, while his racing commitments and lifestyle pulled him elsewhere.

By 1975, she had confided to friends, "I literally felt like a spare part. I was just there for the show." Hunt's mother, Sue Hunt, also recognized the difficulties her daughter-in-law faced.

"Suzy is gorgeous, but I can see that for James to be married is impossible," she shared. "I love him, but I'd hate to have him for a husband." Eventually, Hunt acknowledged that his expectations of marriage had been misplaced.

"I thought that marriage was what I wanted and needed to give me a nice, stable, and quiet home life, but, in fact, it wasn't. And the mistake was mine," he explained.

It was during that second marriage that Burton first noticed Miller.

Miller also came to accept that the marriage was unlikely to survive. Despite their problems, she remained supportive of her husband, and Hunt said he wanted their separation handled without deliberately hurting her.

"I was very anxious not to hurt her," he revealed. "There are nice and nasty ways to do things, and I hope I can never be a hurtful person." The marriage continued for another eight months while Miller sought a new direction. Then circumstances changed dramatically.

A Chance Encounter in Gstaad Changed Everything

At the end of December 1975, Hunt and Miller traveled with friends to Gstaad, Switzerland, where the wealthy and famous had gathered for the festive season. Also staying in the resort were Hollywood stars Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.

Burton and Taylor's relationship had already become one of the entertainment world's most famous romances. They first married in 1964, divorced in 1974, and reconciled soon afterward before marrying for a second time in October 1975.

It was during that second marriage that Burton first noticed Miller. The two were traveling in opposite directions on a ski lift when she caught the actor's attention.

Burton reportedly asked his assistant, Brook Williams, about the woman who had just passed them. Recalling his first impression, the actor later said:

"I turned around and there was this gorgeous creature, about nine feet tall. She could stop a stampede."

By then, Hunt had left Switzerland for São Paulo, where he was due to contest the Brazilian Grand Prix, the opening race of the 1976 Formula One season. Back in Gstaad, Williams invited Miller to a party where she met Burton.

She subsequently began visiting Chalet Arial, the villa where Burton was staying, and an affair soon developed. Burton was 50, and Miller was 26, although the actor later remarked, "She was mature far beyond her years." By the end of January, Burton had told Taylor their marriage was finished.

Miller, meanwhile, kept Hunt informed by telephone about her developing relationship. Far from trying to stop it, the racing driver welcomed the news. When she told him Burton wanted her to travel to New York, the F1 driver reportedly responded, "Fine, off you go."

The situation progressed rapidly after Burton called Miller to New York. Their relationship soon led to a marriage proposal, creating the need for her divorce from Hunt to be completed quickly.

Richard Burton Offered to Cover the $1 Million Settlement

Hunt and Burton then spoke by telephone about what they jokingly described as the "transfer" of Miller. During those discussions, the Hollywood star offered to pay the $1 million divorce settlement owed to her.

Burton was reportedly surprised by how casually Hunt appeared to accept the prospect of losing his wife to another man. The driver, however, viewed the development differently. Hunt told him:

"Relax, Richard. You've done me a wonderful turn by taking on the most alarming expense account in the country."

The unusual arrangement meant Hunt could leave a marriage he had long acknowledged was not working without personally bearing the settlement cost, while Miller was free to pursue her relationship with Burton.

The necessary divorces followed. In June 1976, Burton and Taylor's marriage and Hunt and Miller's marriage were formally dissolved in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where foreigners could obtain a divorce in a day.

Miller and Burton married in Virginia on August 21, 1976. For Hunt, the conclusion of his marriage coincided with the most significant year of his racing career.

Months after entering 1976 still married to Miller, he finished the season as Formula One world champion, while his former wife had begun a new marriage with one of Hollywood's best-known actors.

His mother later suggested that the outcome had less to do with whom Hunt had married than with his suitability for marriage at that stage of his life. Speaking to journalists, she shared:

"I'm quite convinced that whomever my son had married, the same situation would have arisen."

And so, what began as a whirlwind romance in Spain ended in an equally unusual fashion. Hunt and Miller went their separate ways, Burton became the other man in their marriage, and his $1 million offer helped bring a troubled chapter in the F1 champion's private life to a close.