ESP’s Mikey Clarke grabs a few words (and a manicure) with TV’s Alison Hammond…
There’s a good chance you’ve recently seen the popular television personality, Alison Hammond, on television (ITV’s This Morning, Strictly Come Dancing,) or perhaps in person – out and about in Peterborough.
Alison is the star of the much loved panto, Aladdin, taking place at The Cresset (December 12-30). Whilst touring our city to promote the show, I caught up with the celeb at the Serenity Loves Salon, on Oundle Road. I interviewed the professional interviewer (no pressure!) on Aladdin, Strictly, This Morning, and something that her and I have in common – no, it’s not that I wear sequins! As you’ll see in the video below, we were even treated to a manicure.
Tickets are currently on sale for Aladdin, so why should people watch the show? “Well… I’m in it,” Alison joked. “The whole cast are great and it’s really good family fun entertainment. There’s something for everybody.”
Alison was a partcipant in the current, twelfth series of Strictly Come Dancing but was unfortunately voted out in week 7. The colourful contestant (who hopes for Jake or Pixie to win) described her experience on the show as, “A dream come true. It’s literally the best thing I’ve ever done in my life so I was gutted when I was voted off. But somebody had to go, and unfortunately it was me.”
It’s difficult for me to choose my favourite of her dance routines but Alison says, “I loved all of them to be honest. I loved the Foxtrot and even loved Ballroom towards the end. I loved the wafting of my white dress during the American Smooth. If I had to choose a favourite though it would probably be the Cha-Cha, which was my very first dance.”
Her dance partner, Aljaž Skorjanec, is regularly mentioned by the girls in the ESP office – I can’t imagine why. “He’s obviously beautiful on the outside, but he’s just as beautiful on the inside,” Alison told me. “We talk or text every day. He told me that he wants to come to Peterborough and will most likely watch one of the Panto performances.”
For those that don’t watch Strictly, perhaps you recognise Alison as the showbiz reporter for ITV’s This Morning. On the show, she’s interviewed some of the world’s most famous people. I wondered whether she ever got star struck. “All the time,” she said. “I always get star struck but I have a job to do – like yourself, I can see that you’re very star struck talking to me but you’ve just got to get on with it.” Out of all of her interviewees, I wondered if there were any particularly difficult ones. “I just interviewed Donald Sutherland for the new Hunger Games film. He’s an older guy and not an easy person to interview but I kept the flow going. He got his people to call me back into the room after the interview to tell me he really enjoyed it.”
During our chat we discussed working for the same Holiday Rep company, and went into more detail about life as a Strictly contestant. See the full interview in our video below.
See Alison Hammond play the Genie in Aladdin at The Cresset this Christmas. For full details visit www.cresset.co.uk or call the Box Office on 01733 265705.
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Salon photo and video: Mitchell Brewester Media for ESP Magazine.
Panto image: Chris Brudenell
Strictly image: BBC
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