Alison gave an extensive interview to Caroline Harrap of the 'Croydon Advertiser' earlier this month ..... here are some of the best bits .....
'It's an exciting time right now for Alison Hammond - the bubbly television presenter who the nation first came to love when she appeared on Big Brother 3......... has just become the proud owner of a new flat in her home town of Birmingham. "I don't get the keys until January but I'm so excited," beams Alison, who is currently based in London. "It has been very stressful, as moving always is, especially rehearsing for panto and doing This Morning as well, but I like being busy so it's fine.".....
......she has just bought a new sofa from the Rackhams department store, in Birmingham, and is feeling a bit shell-shocked by the experience. "Can you believe it, it was £2,000!" she exclaims. "That's the most I've ever spent on anything - well, apart from the flat itself, of course! But, hopefully, it will all be worth it in the end!" .....
Although she didn't win the show,(BB3) her great sense of humour and natural ebullience earned her some good friends in the house and a lot of fans outside it, although she admits it wasn't all a barrel of laughs. "I think the worst thing about being in the house was not being able to go for a walk or go to the shops to get a paper, or anything like that," recalls Alison ...."I felt like all my liberties had been taken away from me."
Ironically, though, actually leaving the house turned out to be pretty traumatic too - especially negotiating those precarious metal steps on the "walk of shame". "I did worry about being chucked down the stairs by my suitcase - which was actually pretty heavy!" admits Alison, who remains good friends with several ex-housemates - including Big Brother winner, Kate Lawler. "And then, of course, it's very scary coming out of the house - nothing at all can prepare you for that.
"After all, you've had no contact with the outside world and you come out thinking, 'Oh my God! Does everyone hate me?'."
Of course, in her case, the reverse was true - even though her time in the house lasted only two weeks, everyone loved her and she became an instant star. The offers of work poured in and, before long, she was snapped up by ITV's This Morning to do a three-month stint presenting a regular dieting feature.
It didn't take long for them to extend her contract and she is now a regular presenter on the show. "I do feel extremely lucky," says the 28-year-old. "It's been absolutely brilliant - we're like a little family on the programme. I've also met some really amazing people."
Just a few weeks ago, for instance, Alison flew to New York where she interviewed American pop princess, Britney Spears.
So does she get nervous meeting such famous celebrities? "Not normally," she says. "But I must admit, I was pretty nervous interviewing Britney. "I kept having to go to the toilet before that one! As soon as we met, though, I felt totally relaxed. She's absolutely lovely."
In fact, hob-nobbing with the stars is becoming pretty much the norm now for Alison - in another recent interview, she found herself at the Dorchester, in London, interviewing Samuel L Jackson, who is busy promoting his new film, SWAT.
Far from letting it all go to her head, though, she remains refreshingly down to earth but with a quiet air of confidence. "I started off doing the dieting thing on This Morning, basically, because I ate so much on Big Brother," she admits. "But now I'm doing the programme because I'm good - not because I eat a lot!"
She is fairly relaxed about her weight but admits that, following some back problems, she is going on a strict diet in the New Year on the instructions of her doctor. "For the moment, though, I'm eating like a pig!" she grins .....
Aside from her career success, this may well have something to do with the fact that she has a new man in her life. "He's the manager of an Italian restaurant up in Manchester," she says, barely able to suppress a smile. "We met when I was doing some work up there a few months ago and it's been going absolutely brilliantly......'
'It's an exciting time right now for Alison Hammond - the bubbly television presenter who the nation first came to love when she appeared on Big Brother 3......... has just become the proud owner of a new flat in her home town of Birmingham. "I don't get the keys until January but I'm so excited," beams Alison, who is currently based in London. "It has been very stressful, as moving always is, especially rehearsing for panto and doing This Morning as well, but I like being busy so it's fine.".....
......she has just bought a new sofa from the Rackhams department store, in Birmingham, and is feeling a bit shell-shocked by the experience. "Can you believe it, it was £2,000!" she exclaims. "That's the most I've ever spent on anything - well, apart from the flat itself, of course! But, hopefully, it will all be worth it in the end!" .....
Although she didn't win the show,(BB3) her great sense of humour and natural ebullience earned her some good friends in the house and a lot of fans outside it, although she admits it wasn't all a barrel of laughs. "I think the worst thing about being in the house was not being able to go for a walk or go to the shops to get a paper, or anything like that," recalls Alison ...."I felt like all my liberties had been taken away from me."
Ironically, though, actually leaving the house turned out to be pretty traumatic too - especially negotiating those precarious metal steps on the "walk of shame". "I did worry about being chucked down the stairs by my suitcase - which was actually pretty heavy!" admits Alison, who remains good friends with several ex-housemates - including Big Brother winner, Kate Lawler. "And then, of course, it's very scary coming out of the house - nothing at all can prepare you for that.
"After all, you've had no contact with the outside world and you come out thinking, 'Oh my God! Does everyone hate me?'."
Of course, in her case, the reverse was true - even though her time in the house lasted only two weeks, everyone loved her and she became an instant star. The offers of work poured in and, before long, she was snapped up by ITV's This Morning to do a three-month stint presenting a regular dieting feature.
It didn't take long for them to extend her contract and she is now a regular presenter on the show. "I do feel extremely lucky," says the 28-year-old. "It's been absolutely brilliant - we're like a little family on the programme. I've also met some really amazing people."
Just a few weeks ago, for instance, Alison flew to New York where she interviewed American pop princess, Britney Spears.
So does she get nervous meeting such famous celebrities? "Not normally," she says. "But I must admit, I was pretty nervous interviewing Britney. "I kept having to go to the toilet before that one! As soon as we met, though, I felt totally relaxed. She's absolutely lovely."
In fact, hob-nobbing with the stars is becoming pretty much the norm now for Alison - in another recent interview, she found herself at the Dorchester, in London, interviewing Samuel L Jackson, who is busy promoting his new film, SWAT.
Far from letting it all go to her head, though, she remains refreshingly down to earth but with a quiet air of confidence. "I started off doing the dieting thing on This Morning, basically, because I ate so much on Big Brother," she admits. "But now I'm doing the programme because I'm good - not because I eat a lot!"
She is fairly relaxed about her weight but admits that, following some back problems, she is going on a strict diet in the New Year on the instructions of her doctor. "For the moment, though, I'm eating like a pig!" she grins .....
Aside from her career success, this may well have something to do with the fact that she has a new man in her life. "He's the manager of an Italian restaurant up in Manchester," she says, barely able to suppress a smile. "We met when I was doing some work up there a few months ago and it's been going absolutely brilliantly......'
