Alison Hammond — things you didn't know about the TV presenter

Alison Hammond is one of the UK's most sought-after TV presenters.

The bubbly Brummie rose to fame as a contestant on the 2002 series of Big Brother and since then her career has gone on a meteoric rise. As well as being a co-host on ITV's This Morning and The Great British Bake Off, she took over from the late great Paul O'Grady as presenter on For The Love of Dogs.

A celebrated Insta hun, Alison's interviews with Hollywood A-listers are as legendary as her infectious laugh.

But what else is there to know about her? Let us fill you in on a few facts about the fabulous Alison Hammond...

Alison Hammond was a child movie star

Alison Hammond was born on February 5, 1975 in the north Birmingham district of Kingstanding.

One of three children (Alison has a brother and sister), she was raised single-handedly by her Jamaican mum Maria, who held down three jobs to provide for her family.

Maria would often work as an extra on films and TV shows and got Alison and her brother into it too. When she was just six, Alison starred in a film called Artemis 81 alongside singing legend Sting.

"She (my mum) pushed for me to be in the industry," Alison told The Big Issue. "But I think it was mainly to get me off the streets so I didn’t fall in with the wrong crowd."

She thought about becoming a police officer

Alison's love of performing began at an early age. From 11, she was a pupil at Central Television Workshop, a local drama school where she learnt to dance and act.

She had dreams of becoming a police officer and worked for a while as a travel agent.

Then in 2002, Alison's life went in a different direction after she appeared as a contestant on the third series of reality show Big Brother.

She may have been the second housemate to be evicted, but Alison made an impression with TV producers. Within weeks she was snapped up by This Morning to become their showbiz reporter, and the rest as they say is history.

Alison would love her very own TV show

Alison's career is going from strength to strength, but there are still things she wants to achieve.

In a chat with Stylist magazine, she revealed: "I love my job and I'm good at it. But I've always got plans, things I want to do next.

"I can't tell you how many times I've asked for my own show. That's what I want, a show called Alison. It might just get to the point where I just make it myself."

She gave birth on her 30th birthday

Alison's big 3-0, was a day of double celebrations after she welcomed her son, Aidan into the world. His father is Alison's former fiancé Noureddine Boufaied, who she split from in 2014.

Performing clearly runs in the family because Aidan is carving out a career as a DJ. He's already played several festivals in the UK and in Dubai.

Alison likes to keep her son grounded and told Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe she charges Aidan rent. Speaking on the Parenting Hell podcast she revealed what she spends Aidan's keep on:

"I actually love getting a bit of cash off him every month, £40. I go and get my eyebrows done, I go and get my nails done, and I pay in cash - perfect."

Her dream man is Hugh Jackman

Alison has made no secret of the fact that Hugh Jackman is her celebrity crush. She even had the pleasure of interviewing the handsome Aussie actor for This Morning.

Hugh is also one of Alison's top five dream dinner guests, along with Oprah Winfrey, Denise Welch, Madonna, and Muhammad Ali.

Alison has played Beyonce at Connect 4

Yes, you read that right!

Alison interviewed the pop superstar back in November 2008, and challenged her to a game of Connect 4 - which apparently is Beyonce's favourite.

Beyonce chose the red counters, while Alison opted for the yellow. And in case you're wondering it was Queen Bey who emerged victorious.

"Playing Connect 4 with Beyoncé — who does that?" Alison told Attitude. "She was really enjoying it. She said I let her win, and I absolutely did not. I just lost."

She is a published author

Did you know that Alison has penned not one, not two, but three books?

In 2021 she released her autobiography You’ve Got to Laugh: Stories from a Life Lived to the Full, which charts her story from reality star to successful TV presenter.

Alison's second book, Black in Time: The Most Awesome Black Britons from Yesterday to Today does exactly what it says in the title.

And last year she released her first chick lit 'Bombshell' which tells the story of married mum Madison who rediscovers her self-worth after her life gets turned upside down.

Alison is dating a 6 foot 10 masseuse

Alison is currently loved up with 28-year-old masseuse David Putman.

The couple went Instagram official last year, and David has got the seal of approval from Alison's son Aidan.

Speaking on the Parenting Hell podcast Alison said: "When they actually met, he really liked him, he really thought he was lovely, so that’s nice. Thank goodness for that! Because normally Aidan hates anybody I date, literally just not interested. It’s nice though because I always feel like there’s someone there looking over me, protecting me."

She's really close with her GBBO crew

Alison became the envy of TV presenters everywhere in 2023 when she became the new host of The Great British Bake Off.

The job has been a complete joy for Alison, who's now firm friends with co-presenter Noel Fielding, and judges Dame Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood.

"I've definitely raised the cuddle count," Alison joked in an interview with The Guardian. "I pretend I fancy him (Paul), which isn’t hard because he’s gorgeous. He took me for a drive in his sports car. He goes so fast – he thinks he’s an F1 driver. I won’t be doing that again.”

Alison Hammond's fact file

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We work hard to ensure that all information is correct. Facts that change over time, such as age, will be correct, to the best of our knowledge, at the time of the last article update.