It's been 21 years since Alison Hammond burst onto our screens as a Big Brother housemate and in those two decades, her various moves in the TV and showbiz world have led her to being a national treasure to many due to everything from her down-to-earth celebrity interviews to her infectious laugh.
And on Sunday night (February 19), the 48-year-old will be taking another big, and positive, step in her career as she hosts the BAFTA Film Awards 2023 alongside Richard E Grant. "I’m so excited to be hosting at this year’s EE Bafta Film Awards with THE Richard E Grant," Alison said last month (January).
“We’re going to have a lot of fun bringing the glitz and glam of backstage to everyone watching at home around the world. From hanging out with the stars to celebrating the biggest night for cinema, and joining the discussions with film fans, get ready for good vibes only."
READ MORE: ITV This Morning's Alison Hammond under fire for remarks as she's told she's 'asking for trouble'
Usually, fans are used to seeing the star hosting This Morning on a Friday with co-host Dermot O'Leary. The pair replaced Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes in the role in January 2021 as they joined the show's main hosting duo Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield. However, Alison had already spent the best part of 20 years on the programme, often being sent out to play games with members of the public and interviewing some of Hollywood's biggest stars.
But Brummie Alison didn't have an instant rise to fame. As a child, she joined the Central Junior Television workshop in Birmingham and spent eight years working as a child actress, appearing in several productions including an episode of BBC soap Doctors. She also starred in Palace Hill from 1988-1990 as a character called Eskimo, and played Alice in a 1991 episode of Chalkface.
Then, in 2002, when she was 27 and had previously worked in the travel industry as both a holiday rep and then as an entertainer in Tunisia, she entered the Big Brother house for the third series of the hit Channel 4 show, alongside eventual winner Kate Lawler and the late Jade Goody.
Previously speaking on ITV’s Lorraine Alison explained her reasoning behind entering the now-iconic house. "Everyone kept saying, 'You should go into Big Brother.' At the time I was £4,000 in debt. I went into an internet cafe to apply online." Alison also told Holly Willoughby on her Wylde Moon podcast By The Light of The Moon that at the time, she had an opportunity to take part in either Blind Date or Big Brother and chose the latter because of the cash prize of £70,000.
During her time in the famous compound, Alison, who was a cinema usherette at the time, famously broke the garden table after attempting to speak to a security guard over the wall and teasing fellow housemate Alex by confessing she'd weed in the communal shower.
But despite her natural personality in front of the - albeit hidden - cameras, Alison was evicted after only two weeks and tried to go back to her normal job - but was rejected. "I wanted to go back. At the time, I had a job at the cinema. But they said, 'No, I can't go back," she told Holly on her podcast. Alison's This Morning co-host queried: "And they said you can't go back because..."
"I was too famous," Alison laughed in response. "I was like, too famous and they said I would take away from the fact that people just want to go to the cinema and it would be just too busy." Alison added: "I had no job. I said I'm going to have to sign on for this period while I'm not working." She explained how she headed to the job centre in a disguise by wearing a "hoody".
But just weeks later, ITV got in touch and offered her a job as This Morning's new roving reporter. And a three-month contract with the network resulted in 20 years - and counting - working for the broadcaster. Looking back at some memorable moments, Alison's first stint on a red carpet saw her accidentally hit George Clooney with a microphone.
And who can forget in 2017 when her interview with Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling for the new Bladerunner flick ended up becoming a viral hit, viewed over 15 million times on YouTube, after she had Harrison in stitches as the pair downed glasses of whisky.
Away from This Morning, in 2014, she took part in Strictly Come Dancing when she was paired with Aljaž Škorjanec and came in tenth place. She's also starred in a number of other reality shows from Celebrity Fit Club and Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes to Celebrity MasterChef and in the 10th series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here, where she entered the jungle on Day 6 as a late entrée and came out in 10th Place.
In 2017, Alison also took part in Sugar Free Farm, which saw a bunch of celebrity contestants cut sugar from their diets, where she lost two stone. The year before, Alison had spoken about her weight, saying she is 'so embarrassed by it' and admitted she weighs more than 20 stone. That same year, she lost 10lbs and 22" off her body at boot camp while a decade before that, she had a gastric band fitted in 2006, but her body rejected it.
In July of last year, Alison again cut sugar out of her diet after starting to lose weight after her beloved mother sadly died. "Sometimes I look at myself and go, 'Wow, I am a big girl'. But I like taking up a bit of space," Alison previously said. "I take a little bit of extra space in the world and I don't think I'm hurting anyone." She added on Lorraine Kelly’s 'What if?' podcast: "We're all going to die eventually. I might die a little bit sooner, but I'm going to live my life to the fullest."
Speaking of Alison's mum, Maria died in January 2020 from liver and lung cancer. Alison shared the heartbreaking news on Instagram on Valentine's Day the same year after laying her mum to rest in "a beautiful ceremony she would have been proud of." Paying tribute at the time, Alison shared: "Today I dedicate Valentine’s Day to my beautiful, wonderful Mother Maria who passed away from liver and lung cancer. Yesterday my family and I celebrated her amazing life and laid her to rest in a beautiful ceremony she would have been proud of," she said.
"Thank you mummy for giving me the strength to move forward in the knowledge that your ok and with God in Heaven now. I will always remember you and try and make you proud. I love you mum." And it turned into a double tragedy for Alison as Maria's death was then followed by the loss of her father, Clifford Hammond, in Jamaica four months later in June 2020.
Speaking of her dad in her memoir, You’ve Got To Laugh. Alison revealed that Cliff used to smuggle drugs, handled wads of cash and even carried a shotgun in his truck. Flying from his native of Jamaica, Cliff showed up at Alison's mum's Birmingham-based home. But it was only during Maria’s pregnancy with Alison that Cliff revealed he was married and had a family.
Cliff died in June 2020 just four months after Maria passed away. Alison said she didn’t get to spend as much time with her dad as she would have liked and was heartbroken not to be able to attend his funeral, at the height of Covid restrictions. She posted on Instagram at the time: “This is my real dad, Clifford Hammond, who passed away last week in Jamaica.
"I’m saddened that I won’t be able to make his funeral and saddened that he wasn’t part of my life as much as I would have liked... but I still have a sense of loss and emptiness. Sleep well Daddy, love leaves a memory no one can steal. RIP."
Alison later shared how her dad helped her meet her first famous face as when American boxer Muhammad Ali came to Birmingham, Cliff would be his bodyguard. Again speaking to Holly Willoughby, Alison recalled: "Him and another coupe of the guys would be Muhammad Ali's bodyguards, so occasionally my mum would take me to go and meet Muhammad Ali.
She reminisced: "At the time I can remember I was six years old the first time I met him and he was doing a talk and he grabbed me and said 'oh my god she looks just like my daughter'. And he just wouldn't let go of me. Muhammad Ali had me on his lap and he was cuddling me and you could see me as a child literally just pulling away from this man, thinking 'just leave me alone.'"
She also said that it wasn't until she was older that she realised who he was. "He was a lovely guy and my dad was obsessed with him, he adored him so he named three of his children after Muhammad Ali," she said. "So there's me, Alison, then there's Ali and there's another sister called Alica."
Alison is also now a mum herself to 18-year-old Aidan, who was born on her Birthday in 2005 and who she shares with her ex-husband, cab driver Noureddine Boufaied. Back in 2021, Alison shared a rare picture of her ex-partner as she shared her pride for their son. The This Morning host posted a video to TikTok showing off a then-16-year-old Aidan all suited and booted at the Pride of Britain Awards.
It showed Alison, then 46, hopping on a trend doing the rounds on the video platform where users show a photo of their child and then their parents or vice versa. Sharing the video with her TikTok followers, she first shared a photo of Noureddine, reportedly from Manchester, before a glam selfie of herself appeared on the screen. It then ended with teenager Aidan in a tartan suit giving his best blue steel on a 360 video booth on the red carpet of the annual ceremony.
Earlier in February, Alison hosted a joint party for her and Aidan as he marked turning 18 and she celebrated her 48th birthday. "My greatest Achievement- Aidan," she penned on Instagram alongside a video montage of the pair in photos from the bash.
In terms of Alison's love life, in 2014 she looked set to walk down the aisle again when she got engaged to single dad and security guard Jamie Savage after meeting him online. However, in 2017 she announced that they had parted ways, saying: "We split up. It’s the worst news ever. I don’t think I want anyone else now."
While Alison continues to keep her love life out of the public eye, she did reveal last year that she had a man in her life. Or should we say co-host and friend Dermot O'Leary let the news slip. During a live episode of This Morning, Dermot said; "You're not available anymore but if you were, jeez, what a catch!" At the time a sheepish Alison reprimanded Dermot for "telling the world" but then later opened up about her partner.
Speaking to Lorraine Kelly on her self-titled ITV show, Alison said her boyfriend, who she hasn't named or revealed, makes her "heart sing" and "enriches her life". She added: "All I can say is he makes my heart sing and I feel content. He enriches my life in ways I’ve never had before." In November, she told a podcast it was "a little bit" love at first sight for her, adding: "I don’t think it was love at first sight on their front."
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