Alison Hammond has announced that she will star in a Christmas panto later this year.
The This Morning presenter, 48, took to her Instagram on Wednesday to announce the news that she will be starring in a panto in Birmingham this festive season.
She will be performing alongside Matt Slack, Doreen Tipton and Andrew Ryan in the Birmingham Hippodrome production of Jack and the Beanstalk which will open on 16 December and run until 28 January, reports OK!.
She captioned the post: "Now this is exciting!!! @brumhippodrome have asked if I would like to be in their Panto this year in my home town of Brum . Err let me think ….YES PLEASE !!!
"I’m so excited to be joining the team in “Jack and the beanstalk” it’s gonna be a Panto extravaganza, oh yes it is !!!"
Several of her followers expressed their excitement about the news, and so did a lot of her famous friends.
Ruth Langsford commented: "Oh yes it is! And I’ll be BEHIND YOU!!!"
Kate Garraway said: "Fab - sounds like it’s all over to brum for panto this year xx."
Singer Anna Williamson wrote: "THIS IS VERY EXCITING!!!!!!! Obvs coming to see you babs xxx."
The Greatest Showman actress Keala Settle penned: "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!"
The news came shortly after Alison was criticised by This Morning viewers after expressing her opinions about singing along during a theatre show.
Discussing the news that a group of people had been escorted out of a Manchester theatre after disturbing the audience and singing along to the songs in the musical, Alison said she'd be "fuming" if she was in the same situation.
She said: "I can't believe it. I'd be devastated. I'm not even going to go to that show now."
A slew of comments followed criticising her views on the topic, as one fan wrote “speechless that you are even asking this” while another joked that it wasn’t an “open audition” and that people pay to hear the performers, “not the woman sitting next to them".
Alison later wrote an apology on her Instagram Stories in response to the comments, explaining to her 1.3million followers: "After reflection and the comments I made on Wednesday's show I want to apologise to anyone who I offended, especially the incredibly talented theatre performers, who I have the upmost respect for.
"I had no idea the level of disruption audiences were causing and tried to make light of the topic on Wednesday's show, and for that I'm truly sorry.
"I am a great supporter of theatre and the arts and would never sing at the top of my lungs at any performance," the presenter continued.
"I was wrong in what I said and I've given this a lot of thought over the past few days and believe I was wrong."
