Alison Hammond has returned to This Morning, a week after the ITV presenter was taken to hospital following concerns over her heart after she experienced palpitations.
Last week, the broadcaster, 51, was rushed off screen, holding her chest as the team rallied around her. The ITV presenter later confirmed she was taken to hospital after experiencing palpitations. While she has kept a low profile since being admitted to hospital earlier this week, it emerged that Alison believed she was experiencing a heart attack on the set of the ITV magazine programme.
Comparing the Experience to Stranger Things
Sitting alongside Dermot O'Leary, Alison said that while she was experiencing her panic attack, she felt as though she went to another world. She said: "Thank you first of all for holding the fort, and thank you to everyone who sent their good wishes. All I can say is, in that moment, it was probably one of the most scariest things that I've ever been through - surreal."
She added: "You know what I felt like? I felt like I went into the other world. What's that show that I love?" as Dermot explained, it was Stranger Things. "You know when you go into the Upside Down world? I felt like I went into the Upside Down world. I couldn't grasp my breath, and it was a panic attack. And, you know, I feel—I feel guilty that I didn't have a heart condition or anything, a little bit, because it was so much of a fuss."
Running Off Live TV
Alison went on to add: "But I didn't know! It's the first time I've ever experienced anything like that. Secondly, it was live on TV, so I thought, 'Oh my gosh, my son might be watching,' so I just ran—I ran off TV! I mean, I would never do that normally, but I just couldn't catch my breath."
She continued: "It just was like a wave, something which I now found out is adrenaline. That came into my body, I couldn't catch my breath, and I genuinely thought I was having a heart attack. I'm so glad I'm here, I feel so grateful, I feel so thankful to God, to everything in life. I'm so happy that I'm here, and I'm so happy to see you. You was absolutely wonderful! And I'm so glad, I'm so glad we're alive, and if anything, it's made—it's made me look at life so much differently, you know? Take stock, you know, look after my health, you know, I'm drinking a lot of water..."
Praise for Dermot O'Leary
While Alison wasn't present at the Attitude Awards, she picked up the trophy for Honorary Gay, with Lawler accepting it on her behalf. Speaking about being absent from the ceremony, Alison said: "Some of you may have seen I've recently had a very public episode live on television. And let's be honest, if you're going to have a breakdown, you might as well have it on ITV with loads of people watching."
She went on to praise pal Dermot O'Leary, who was seen ushering her out of shot. Alison said: "Dermot O'Leary handled it beautifully... I think Dermot deserves his own gay award because he is the gayest straight man on the planet. He is basically an honorary gay man already." Moments after the terrifying ordeal, Dermot told viewers that Alison was feeling unwell and wouldn't be returning to present the rest of the show.
Recovery and Reflection
Shortly after, on her Instagram page, Alison informed her fans that she was okay. She said: "I know you're all worried about me. Honestly, I am fine. First of all, I'm getting my old ticker checked out. I had a little bit of a palpitation, and now I'm getting it all checked out. But I think I'm ok. I'm hoping it was just a little panic attack or something like that. I would never normally do that. I would never leave a TV show, so you know I wasn't very well."
She added: "But hopefully I'm going to be all right. The doctors are so lovely, and they're checking me out, and hopefully everything's going to be fine." Alison later went on to say that she had a "massive panic attack," but was grateful to have been told she wasn't suffering a heart attack. "It felt very real to me. I'm really new to panic attacks, so I need to learn more about it," she said.
