Alison Hammond has said she thought she was having a heart attack when she was rushed off This Morning last week. The TV presenter, 51, was accompanied off the set by her colleague Dermot O’Leary while appearing to clutch her chest.
The ITV show, which was halfway through a segment about pets, quickly cut to adverts, and returned with O’Leary saying Hammond was “feeling a little unwell” and “had to duck out”.
Panic attack confirmed
Hammond later confirmed she had a panic attack and, returning to This Morning on Friday, described it as “one of the scariest things I’ve ever been through”.
Speaking to O’Leary, she said: “All I can say is, in that moment it was one of the scariest things I’ve ever been through. It was surreal.
“I felt like I went into the other world, what’s that show that I love? Stranger Things, when you go into the upside-down world.
“I couldn’t grasp my breath. It was a panic attack.
“I feel guilty that I didn’t have a heart condition or anything. It was such a fuss.
“I’ve never 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 would never do that normally, but I just couldn’t catch my breath.”
Return to the show
Describing how the panic attack felt, Hammond said: “It was like a wave, something which I now found out is adrenaline.
“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.”
Hammond and O’Leary also spoke with counselling psychologist Dr Sian Williams about panic attacks, with the TV star admitting she was nervous to return to the programme.
She said: “I was anxious about coming back but I thought, if I don’t come back today, I probably wouldn’t come back.
“I would’ve made a thing that it’s This Morning that is causing the panic but it can happen anywhere.
Hammond was given a round of applause at the top of the show as she made her return and O’Leary said: “Don’t leave me like that again.”
The former Big Brother star thanked her co-host for “holding the fort” and also thanked viewers for sending her well wishes.
Health update and background
Hammond shared a video update on Instagram last Friday after leaving the programme and said: “Thanks to everyone at the NHS who did the checks on my heart, lungs, bloods. I’m all OK. It’s all clear.
“Which would mean I had a massive panic attack on live TV. I mean, the shame of it.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, a panic attack is a sudden episode of intense fear that can trigger intense physical symptoms such as a racing heart rate, sweating, trembling and shortness of breath. Most panic attacks last between five and 20 minutes. Although they can be very frightening, they are not dangerous.
Hammond rose to fame in 2002 when she appeared as a contestant on Channel 4 reality show Big Brother. Along with presenting This Morning on Fridays, she currently co-hosts The Great British Bake Off with Noel Fielding.
