Alison Hammond broke down in tears as she recalled her financial woes after having made it as a TV presenter on This Morning.
The 49-year-old soared to fame after appearing on Big Brother in 2002 and is now a staple on British telly including on shows like The Great British Bake Off and For The Love Of Dogs.
Months after exiting the Big Brother house, Alison was hired by This Morning as a reporter but said in 2007 she could not pay her mortgage.
That year she explained she was not booked on the ITV show and instead worked at a hairdresser’s salon where she answered the phone and blow dried customers’ hair.
Crying, the TV star told The Observer: ‘It’s not all good all of the time. But I was all right, you know? That’s television, it’s fickle and it’s part of my journey, part of my power.’
Alison said Bake Off might not want to hire her next year and added: ‘And that’s OK. I know I’ll be OK, because I’ve been OK before. I’ll go and work at Tesco and people will still love me.’
In the wide-ranging interview, a Bake Off producer admitted Alison would be a ‘nightmare’ at home – but not for the reason you might be expecting.
Revealing Alison’s greatest strength was her boundless enthusiam, the producer said: ‘Sometimes the crew is a bit tired and Alison will walk in and bring everyone up.
‘It’s great at work – but it must be a nightmare at home.’
While talking about her Bake Off presenting role, Alison revealed the off-air moment she cried on the Channel 4 show.
She explained with each season she ‘cares more’ and was surpised to burst into tears when the bakers left last year.
‘I was like, “What is going on?”‘ Alison recalled.
It comes after Rylan admitted on This Morning that Alison was his ‘worse houseguest ever.’
‘The worst houseguest I’ve ever had, but also one of my favourites was Alison Hammond,’ he said.
‘She’d obviously had a couple of little beverages when she stayed at my house and forgot to take her make-up off and the following day when I walked past her bed, it looked like Alison was still in the bed.
‘Her whole face was on the pillow.’
We’re sure Alison’s too busy to call up Rylan on his remarks as she will be presenting even more shows.
They include BBC entertainment series Alison Hammond’s Big Weekend, during which she will spend two days with celebrities, and a travel series around America with her son Aiden, 19.
The Great British Bake Off returns to Channel 4 next month.
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