Alison Hammond has been praised for standing up for Andy Burnham's wife live on This Morning. The TV presenter was hosting alongside Dermot O'Leary when they interviewed the Prime Minister.
Body-shaming trolls target Marie-France van Heel
Andy, 56, has been married to businesswoman Marie-France van Heel, also 56, since 2000. When the couple were pictured outside 10 Downing Street, trolls body-shamed Marie. Alison addressed the subject, saying: "You've had a lot of criticism. In fact, your wife has had a lot of criticism, which I just think was uncalled for. How do you deal with that?"
Andy responded: "Oh, I'm not gonna moan about that. You've put yourself there and you accept that as part of what comes with the job. It's like complain about the weather, isn't it? It's just there." He added: "I'm just gonna try to go at this in the right way and take the rough with the smooth."
Alison insists criticism of wife is different
Alison maintained it was a "different thing" when his wife became involved, telling him she looked "absolutely beautiful." Andy smiled and said: "Oh, thank you. I'll tell her. Thanks, Alison."
The clip went viral, with fans praising Alison. One wrote: "Smashing it Alsion - so brilliant when you do interviews!" Another said: "Well said!! People are always so mean about women's looks & styles - but never the men." A third called Alison "sheer class."
Dawn French also condemns body-shaming
Vicar of Dibley star Dawn French unleashed a furious rant on Instagram, saying: "How dare you body shame her? She is a bright woman who speaks lots of languages; she’s run businesses; she’s faced challenges you wouldn’t even begin to imagine."
Marie-France van Heel was born in the Netherlands and Belgium before moving to the UK and attending Cambridge University. She works in marketing and strategy and is chief marketing officer at Iduna Infrastructure, which owns part of Manchester's electric vehicle charging network.
