Alison Hammond
Born (1975-02-05) 5 February 1975 (age 48)
Birmingham, West Midlands, England
EducationCardinal Wiseman School
Occupations
  • Television presenter
  • actress
Years active1988–1991, 1997, 2002-present
EmployerITV
Television
Spouse
Noureddine Boufaied
​
(divorced)​
Children1

Alison Hammond (born 5 February 1975) is an English television personality and actress. She competed in the third series of the reality show Big Brother in 2002, in which she was the second housemate to be evicted.[1] She has since become a presenter and reporter on ITV's This Morning (2002–present) and a co-presenter on the Channel 4 reality baking competition The Great British Bake Off (2023–present).

Hammond has also appeared on reality shows such as I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (2010), Celebrity Coach Trip (2012), Strictly Come Dancing (2014), Celebrity Masterchef (2014), and I Can See Your Voice (2021–2022). As an actress, Hammond has appeared in Palace Hill (1988–1990), Doctors (2002), and The Dumping Ground (2016).

Early and personal life

Hammond was born on 5 February 1975 to Jamaican parents and was raised in the north Birmingham district of Kingstanding alongside her two siblings.[2][3][4] She attended Cardinal Wiseman School.[2] Her mother had several jobs concurrently, including one as a manager for Tupperware.[3] From the age of 11, Hammond participated in drama workshops run by Central Television, but lack of funds meant she was unable to attend drama school.[2][3] She later moved to Hall Green in south Birmingham.[5] She was previously married to Noureddine Boufaied and together the couple have one son, born in 2005.[6][7]

Career

In 2002, Hammond competed on the third series of the Channel 4 reality series Big Brother. That same year, she appeared in an episode of the BBC soap opera Doctors in an acting role and also began presenting and reporting for ITV's This Morning.[8] Hammond then appeared on many television programmes, including Celebrity Fit Club, Celebrities Under Pressure, and Big Star's Little Star. She has also appeared on Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes, performing as Nina Simone, Celebrity Ready Steady Cook, Daily Cooks Challenge, as a panellist on ITV's Loose Women, and as a presenter on the short-lived ITV Play channel. In 2004, Hammond played herself as a TV reporter in Christmas Lights opposite Robson Green. In 2008, Hammond was named as the face of online bingo site Crown Bingo and took part in live chats, voiced characters and can be heard as the bingo caller in the bingo room.[9] In November 2010, Hammond became a contestant on the tenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! and, on 28 November 2010, became the fourth contestant to leave the show.[10]

In 2014, Hammond participated in the ninth series of Celebrity MasterChef on BBC One. She also participated in the twelfth series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2014 on BBC One.[11] She partnered with 11th series' champion Aljaž Škorjanec. They were voted off in the seventh week of competition and finished 10th.[12] On 19 November 2015, it was announced she would compete in the annual Strictly Christmas Special.[13] Hammond made her Hollywood debut in the animated film Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018).[14] In 2020, ITV announced a shake-up of This Morning presenters, with Hammond replacing Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford on a Friday, presenting alongside Dermot O'Leary.[15] Hammond and O'Leary have since taken on the other days after the respective resignations of Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby in the summer and autumn of 2023 as part of a rotation of hosts.

In December 2020, Alison appeared as a celebrity guest on game show The Wheel on BBC One.[16] She also played the Countess in the Sainsbury's 2022 Christmas advert.[17] Hammond then hosted the 76th British Academy Film Awards with Richard E. Grant.[18] It was announced in March 2023 that Hammond would be the new co-host of The Great British Bake Off, replacing Matt Lucas.[19]

Filmography

Year Title Role Note(s)
1988–1990 Palace Hill Eskimo Main role
1991 Chalkface Alice Episode: "Christmas Cheer"
1997 The Locksmith WPC Leigh Episode: "Coming Together"
2002 Big Brother Herself Contestant; 11th place
2002 Doctors Danielle Episode: "Tears of a Clown"
2002, 2004, 2006, 2019 Loose Women Herself Herself (2 episodes), guest panellist (2002, 2004)
2002–present This Morning Herself Reporter and presenter (2002–2021), main presenter (2021–)
2003 Doctors Theresa Holyoake Episodes: "A Red Light Means Stop: Part 1" and "A Red Light Means Stop Part: 2"
2004 Celebrity Fit Club Herself Contestant
2004 Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes Herself Performed as Nina Simone
2004 Christmas Lights Herself
2006–2007 ITV Play Herself This Morning Puzzlebook Quiz Show
2010 I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! Herself Contestant; 10th place
2012 Celebrity Coach Trip Herself Contestant
2012–2014 Big Brother's Bit On The Side Herself 4 episodes
2013 Celebrity Big Brother Herself 1 episode
2014 Celebrity MasterChef Herself Contestant
2014 Strictly Come Dancing Herself Contestant; 10th place
2016 The Dumping Ground Rowena Spike Episodes: "Lost and Found" and "Bear-Faced Liar"
2017 Sugar Free Farm Herself Participant
2017 Let's Sing and Dance Herself Participant
2018 The Time It Takes Herself Co-host
2018 Celebrity Haunted Mansion Herself Participant
2018 Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation Frankenginger (voice) Movie
2020 Celebs Go Dating Herself Series 8
2020 The Great Stand Up to Cancer Bake Off Herself Series 3
2021 I Can See Your Voice Judge
2021 Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway Herself Series 17
2022 RuPaul's Drag Race UK Guest judge Series 4
2022 The Masked Singer: I'm a Celebrity Special Herself Performed as Witchetty Grub
2022 Alison Hammond In at the Rich End: The Riviera Herself Documentary[20]
2023 The British Academy Film Awards Reporter[21]
2023–present The Great British Bake Off Co-host[22] Alongside Noel Fielding, replaced Matt Lucas

Guest appearances

References

  1. ^ "Alison evicted from Big Brother". BBC News. 8 June 2002. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  2. ^ a b c "Big time after Big Brother". BBC Birmingham. November 2004. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Kheraj, Alim (28 September 2020). "This Morning's Alison Hammond: 'I had to educate myself on black history'". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  4. ^ Padin, Malvika (1 February 2022). "This Morning host Alison Hammond's fabulous life - her age and relationships". mirror. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  5. ^ "Alison Hammond". Birmingham.livingmag.co.uk. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  6. ^ "Five minutes with... This Morning's Alison Hammond". Woman's Own. 16 January 2013. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  7. ^ "Alison Hammond's love life - including divorce, failed engagement and boyfriend split". BirminghamWorld. 11 April 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  8. ^ Clarke, Naomi (17 March 2023). "Alison Hammond: From Big Brother to beloved presenter". Evening Standard. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  9. ^ "Alison Hammond Joins Crown Bingo". PR Web. 26 September 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  10. ^ "Alison Hammond leaves the jungle". Oxford Mail. PA News. 29 November 2010. Archived from the original on 28 October 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  11. ^ Wightman, Catriona (19 August 2014). "Strictly Come Dancing: Alison Hammond joins the cast". Digital Spy.
  12. ^ Michael Hogan (9 November 2014). "Alison Hammond voted off Strictly Come Dancing, review". Telegraph.co.uk.
  13. ^ Coupe, Kerry (17 December 2015). "Royal Marine Cassidy Little to star in Christmas Strictly special". Stamford Mercury. Archived from the original on 26 December 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  14. ^ "Alison Hammond on Instagram: 'It's official !!! I am to voice a character in a Hollywood Blockbuster movie Hotel Transylvania 3 and I just can't wait I'm so excited to…'". Instagram. Archived from the original on 26 December 2021.
  15. ^ "Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary to join This Morning presenting family". ITV. ITV. 30 November 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  16. ^ Otter, Saffron; Sulway, Verity (13 December 2020). "Michael McIntyre left 'horrified' after new show The Wheel ends in disaster". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  17. ^ "Pudding it out there: Sainsbury's reinvents the Christmas pudding in tongue-in-cheek fairy tale advert". 4 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  18. ^ Richardson, Hollie; Seale, Jack; Duggins, Alexi; Catterall, Ali; Wardell, Simon (19 February 2023). "TV tonight: Alison Hammond and Richard E Grant host this year's Baftas". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  19. ^ "The Great British Bake Off: Alison Hammond replaces Matt Lucas as co-host". BBC News. 17 March 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  20. ^ "Alison Hammond In at the Rich End: The Riviera". itv.com/presscentre. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  21. ^ "The British Academy Film Awards". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  22. ^ "The Great British Bake Off: Alison Hammond replaces Matt Lucas as co-host". BBC News. 17 March 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  23. ^ Anderton, Joe (27 March 2019). "Hollyoaks brings in This Morning's Alison Hammond for a surprise cameo". Digital Spy. Retrieved 18 November 2020.

External links

Big Brother UK
Categories