Angela Cullen: Lewis Hamilton’s blonde PA shares tattoo, goes rock climbing with him
Lewis Hamilton’s relationship with his blonde assistant Angela Cullen has been making headlines for years. When the Formula One ace is not inside his race car, he is often seen with Cullen, who apart from being his physiotherapist is also the seven-time champion’s closest ally, friend and confidante.
As his physiotherapist, it is Cullen's job to oversee the overall wellbeing of the champion British racer including, but not limited to, his daily routine, personal logistics, diet, sleep patterns and travel arrangements. She is also tasked with making sure that Hamilton's mental health is never affected and he is always in the best frame of mind possible so that he can focus on his game. She provides emotional support for Hamilton, who in an interview last year, said she was “one of the greatest things that’s happened” to him.
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“People for sure won’t understand it, naturally, because they see it from a distance, but she has been one of the greatest things that's happened to me in my life,” Hamilton said. “I’ve been fortunate to work with a lot of people… and she’s the single hardest-working woman that I get to be around. She’s focused, selfless, and she makes my weekends peaceful. Every day I wake up, whatever time it is, she’s just positive — never a single day has she been negative, so that’s very, very important.”
Who is Angela Cullen?
Cullen was born in Devonport, Auckland, New Zealand, on August 5, 1974, and was drawn to sports from an early age. “I was born and grew up in New Zealand, famous for outdoor activities,” Angela said in an interview with her employer Hintsa Performance. "I have always had a passion for all sports. I was hugely competitive and got involved in everything from netball, soccer, cricket, volleyball, basketball, to swimming athletics. If there was a sports team, I wanted to be part of it. But it was field hockey that I represented New Zealand in from the ages of 15 to 21. This was my first introduction to high-performance sports and human performance.”
While there have been rumors about some sort of a romantic relationship brewing between Cullen and Hamilton, there is no truth to the rumors because Cullen is married, and lives with her husband, who is a cycling coach, and her two children in the Alps region of France. Pete Mcknight, Hinsta Performance’s director of coaching and sports science describes the “quirky” appeal of her private life that makes her relationship with Lewis work. “There’s also just something quirky about it,” Mcknight said. “A woman in her mid-forties, with a family at home, two young kids, and then there’s this mid-thirties racing driver. It might seem a really weird match, but it just works.”
She has her own Instagram page, which boasts over 282,000 followers. She is very active on the account and shares snaps from her work with Hamilton. Hamilton and Lewis both have “Loyalty” tattooed on their wrists — a fact which was confirmed by photographer Kym Illman.
"She’s loyal to Lewis, so loyal in fact, that on her wrist she has loyalty tattooed like Lewis has on his wrist. The inner circle are loyal to each other,” said Illman. "One of her roles is to get Lewis to the track. Sometimes she even has to act as a bodyguard for Lewis. She’s been in the field of sport for some 25 years, she’s his PA, his driver, his performance coach, his confidante, his friend. It is her role to eliminate all the distractions for Lewis over a race weekend, so for 4 days, she’s with him almost every minute of those 4 days.”
Cullen and Hamilton, both have been participating in various activities during the pandemic. After the 2020 Australian Grand Prix was canceled, due to the Covid-19 health crisis, Hamilton remained in Australia and went rock climbing with Cullen.