Alison Hammond has made her comeback to This Morning following a panic attack she experienced live during the programme. The popular host was presenting the ITV daytime broadcast with Dermot O'Leary on Friday, October 2, when she was hurried off-screen.
Alison was seen holding her chest before departing the studio, assisted by Dermot. He subsequently revealed that she was feeling "unwell" and wouldn't be continuing with that day's broadcast.
Alison's health update
Alison afterwards posted on social media to express gratitude to audiences for their encouragement, confirming she was having her heart examined at hospital. In a further statement, she verified she was "all OK, all-clear, which would mean I had a massive panic attack on live TV. I mean, the shame of it."
"It felt very real to me. I'm really new to panic attacks, so I need to learn more about it," she went on. "I didn't necessarily want to be on the news or anything like that, but this is a new world to me," Alison remarked. "I'm going to take stock, take some rest, and I'll see you soon," reports the Daily Star.
Return to the sofa
Alison has now resumed her This Morning duties with Dermot, standing in as normal for Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley on Fridays. They assumed control from Lorraine Kelly's ITV show at 10am, with Alison acknowledging her earlier absence as the programme began.
Concluding her programme, Lorraine remarked: "I am so delighted to say that This Morning is up next because Dermot is here, and Alison, hooray!" Alison responded: "I'm going to tell you, everything, guys." Appearing to reference Holly Willoughby's infamous comment, Alison continued: "Are you ok? I hope you are."
As This Morning commenced, Alison expressed gratitude to supporters before revealing her ordeal. She started: "I'm back," while Dermot stated: "Don't leave me like that again."
Alison continued: "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.
"Do you know what I felt like? I felt like I'd been into the other world, [from] Stranger Things, do you know when you've gone into the Upside Down, I felt like I went into the Upside Down world... it was a panic attack.
"I feel guilty that I didn't have a heart condition or anything... but I didn't know, it was the first time I'd ever experienced anything like that."
Facing fears
She continued, "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."
"It 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.
"So glad I'm here, I feel so grateful, so thankful to god, to everything in life, I'm so happy that I'm here." Addressing Dermot, she continued: "I'm so happy that I'm here and to see you, you were wonderful. If anything, it's made me look at life so differently."
During a This Morning segment focused on panic attacks, Alison elaborated on her experience. An expert commended her for "getting back on the sofa", with Alison explaining: "I'll be honest with you, I was anxious about coming back, but I thought if I don't come back today, I probably won't come back. I actually thought, I don't think I'll come back, because then I would have made a thing that it was This Morning causing the panic."
Ben and Cat had sent their love to Alison when This Morning returned this week. Ben acknowledged the programme had faced "a little bit of a scare" when she was taken off air.
Cat added: "We wanted to start with some good news about Alison. After she felt unwell during the show, she was taken to the hospital to get checked, but now, thankfully, she's been given the all clear."
After a clip of Alison thanking the This Morning team and sharing an update on her health, Cat blew a kiss, while Ben said, "And we love you, sending you lots of love. She's sent lots of messages about how supported she is by everyone at home. In fact, she was most disappointed to miss out on Saturday soup!"
Alison first captured the public's attention as a contestant on Big Brother in 2002, subsequently going on to feature on I'm A Celebrity, Strictly Come Dancing, and latterly as a presenter on The Great British Bake Off and For the Love of Dogs.
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1 and ITVX.
