There’s no denying that Alison Hammond has develop into considered one of TV’s most treasured gems.
Together with her unimaginable candour, humour and iconic cackle, the This Morning star has gained a legion of devoted followers through the years that features a few of Hollywood’s elite.
And after simply lacking out on scooping the very best presenter gong at tonight’s Nationwide Tv Awards – which has as soon as once more gone to Ant and Dec for the twenty first time – Alison, 47, can nonetheless maintain her head excessive as being the one This Morning presenter to be shortlisted for the awarded.
However what's it about Alison – who spent simply 14 days within the Huge Brother home twenty years in the past – that turned her into such a nationwide treasure?
Based on TV critic and broadcaster Scott Bryan, it’s as a result of ‘it hardly feels such as you’re watching somebody current tv.
‘She’s such a pure presence, that you simply overlook you don’t know Alison personally. It’s actually a present she has,’ he tells Metro.co.uk.
Born and bred in Birmingham to Jamaican mother and father Maria and Clifford, Alison found her love for the limelight at an early age – becoming a member of the drama college Central Junior Tv Workshop.
She additionally beloved to spend her time placing on performances on a hill that the locals known as The Pimple. ‘I used to go up there and sing Sound of Music, and do my very own musicals of West Facet Story,’ she defined in June this yr, recalling reminiscences of her childhood.
‘It was my escape actually. The place I might scream, shout, dance, do what I need, cartwheels! I used to be obsessive about doing cartwheels. I can’t do a cartwheel anymore, I’m completely devastated.’
Then, in 2002, when she was 27, she entered the Huge Brother home for the the third collection of the Channel 4 present, alongside Kate Lawler and Jade Goody.
Talking on ITV’s Lorraine final yr, Alison defined her reasoning behind getting into the now-iconic home. ‘Everybody saved saying: ‘You need to go into Huge Brother,”‘ she informed host Lorraine Kelly. ‘On the time I used to be £4,000 in debt. I went into an web cafe to use on-line.’
The then-cinema usherette proved to be TV gold, famously breaking the backyard desk after making an attempt to talk to a safety guard over the wall and teasing fellow housemate Alex by confessing she’d weed within the communal bathe.
She was evicted after solely two weeks and admitted she initially thought she’d simply return to regular life. ‘I lasted 14 days. They evicted me. I believed I’d return to my outdated job.’
Nevertheless, little did Alison know that her brief stint on the present was sufficient to depart an enduring impression and simply weeks later, ITV’s This Morning provided her a job as their new roving reporter.
‘It was actually [meant to be] for 2 months,’ she has since defined. ‘I went and did the 2 months after which they requested me to remain till Christmas.
‘I saved pondering I used to be going to return to my regular life. And it simply by no means occurred. I’m nonetheless ready to return to my regular life!’
Her infectious persona proved a success with viewers however it was her first stint on a pink carpet that displayed Alison’s unimaginable chemistry with A-listers, when she unintentionally hit George Clooney with a microphone.
‘I didn’t know the protocol, so I interviewed George and he went off,’ she admitted. ‘When he got here again, I believed I might get one other interview. I put my microphone up and hit him within the face. This Morning mentioned: “We will’t eliminate this woman, she’s fricking hilarious!”‘
From there, Alison’s distinctive manner with Hollywood’s greatest stars turned a TV sensation.
Her interview with Hugh Jackman precipitated hysterics when she unveiled a desk of goodies and champagne and the pair took turns feeding each other.
‘You might be undoubtedly, through the years, the very best particular person to interview me,’ the Australian actor gushed. ‘I imply that. I at all times discover it wonderful.’
She additionally struck up a agency friendship with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, with the previous wrestler even jokingly proposing and marrying her throughout considered one of their interview segments.
Alison’s superpower appears to be her capability to disarm and allure a few of Tinseltown’s most troublesome stars. ‘I overlook I’m on TV after which I develop into Alison,’ she defined in 2018. ‘Most of those celebrities are in these rooms doing these interviews. They kinda wanna get pleasure from themselves. They simply go along with it.’
It was in 2017 when her interview with Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling for the brand new Bladerunner flick ended up turning into a viral hit, seen over 15 million instances on YouTube. A notoriously robust celeb to interview, Alison had Harrison in stitches because the pair downed glasses of whisky.
Describing the incident, she mentioned: ‘I simply suppose he [Harrison Ford] doesn’t like journalists. I believe I used to be simply being actually cheeky. I’ve executed a lot better interviews. I went again to This Morning and mentioned “We haven’t received something, we would as effectively shelf it.” Nevertheless it exhibits folks need to snigger and smile. And if I may give them that, that’s good.’
After spending the final twenty years engaged on the hit morning present, Alison has confirmed herself to be very a lot a part of the core staff – and it’s clear she’s developed an in depth bond with the presenters she’s labored alongside.
In a earlier interview with Metro.co.uk, she defined: ‘Shall I let you know one thing? Watching This Morning makes me cry laughing. I believe as a result of I do know Philip and Holly, and Eamonn and Ruth, once they crack a joke, I would discover it ten instances funnier as a result of I do know them.
‘I do know what they’re pondering and know their interior ideas… They make me laugh-cry once I’m on the present, and I see them on the nook of my eye, and so they see me and I’ve been doing one thing that makes them crackup – after which that makes me need to identical to snigger my head off.
‘I've to be quiet as a result of clearly I’m behind the behind the digital camera.’
In addition to This Morning, Alison has additionally graced our screens with stints on I’m a Celeb, Strictly Come Dancing and the Nice Movie star Bake Off.
Fashionable tradition knowledgeable Nick Ede believes Alison’s star is brighter than ever as she’s an actual one that folks relate to. ‘We’ve adopted her from her breaking the desk on Huge Brother to now,’ he explains.
‘Whether or not she’s dancing on Strictly or flirting with Harrison Ford, her infectious humour and all the way down to earth nature has made her a winner with followers outdated and new. She’s additionally a presenter who will not be controversial. She’s pleasant and heat. She’s an actual lady who folks can determine with.’
Alison’s star – and staying – energy has proved so profitable that in 2020, she was promoted to the This Morning couch – internet hosting the Friday present alongside Dermot O’Leary.
Dermot – who she affectionately refers to as her ‘TV husband’ – has mentioned of her: ‘She’s like a sister to me and we’ve received one another’s backs. We each know our personal strengths and what we want from the opposite, we all know one another’s beats and nuances and it simply feels actually pure and heat.’
With the superstar world typically obsessive about measurement, Alison has additionally always bucked the pattern and been happy with her beautiful curves. ‘I’m not a type of those who hates myself. I truly love myself,’ the scale 28 star has mentioned.
‘Individuals get actually offended, however what do they count on us to do? Go and conceal underneath a rock till we get to the scale they need us to be? I do know individuals who do.’
It’s not simply Alison’s humour and positivity that has gained viewers over. In 2020, we noticed a extra weak facet to the star within the wake of George Floyd’s homicide in police custody. She was audibly emotional on the telephone to Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield, as she urged viewers to coach themselves about Britain’s historical past of colonialism and racism.
As a mum to son Aiden, 17, she added on This Morning: ‘Once I noticed that picture of George Floyd, I noticed my brothers, I noticed my dad, I noticed my son.’
The emotional second impressed Alison to make the documentary Again to Faculty in 2020, which noticed her journey the nation to study necessary Black figures which can be typically neglected within the college curriculum.
Final evening’s NTAs marked the second yr Alison has been nominated for the coveted Finest Presenter slot, turning into the primary black lady to take action in 2021.
Chatting with Fabulous journal final month, she mentioned: ‘I felt like I used to be standing on the shoulders of giants getting that nomination, it was unbelievable. There have been a great deal of [black] people who find themselves wonderful [on TV] – you already know, Moira Stuart, Lenny Henry, Trevor McDonald.
‘I used to be prepared with my speech. I believed I used to be going to win. I used to be fuming,’ she laughed. ‘Solely joking! I really like Ant and Dec. Normally it’s two individuals who win and I weigh the identical as Ant and Dec, so it’s like a double act.’
Now, twenty years on from her stint on Huge Brother, Alison can also be being tipped as one of many favourites to take over from Davina McCall to host.
Regardless of the big quantity of affection for her, it’s clear that the star – who nonetheless lives in her beloved Birmingham – has not let success go to her head. In truth, she seems to be the one one that doesn’t perceive how totally adored she is.
Talking forward of final evening’s NTAs, she admitted on This Morning: ‘I’ve received that imposter syndrome…I’m seeing it from the skin pondering ‘”Is that this actually actual?”
‘I’m simply this woman from a council property in Birmingham, I’ve labored actually actually onerous, and I’m doing it for the on a regular basis those who thought they weren’t adequate to be there, or couldn’t dream sufficiently big so I need to do it for everybody else, so if I win, all of us win man!’
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