the beloved presenter, made a surprise visit to Friday’s programme. Currently starring in the Peter Pan pantomime at Birmingham’s Hippodrome Theatre, Alison couldn’t resist dropping in.
Interrupting Kate Lawler’s competition segment while donning her full panto attire, Kate seized the moment to inquire about Alison’s favourite aspect of performing in pantomimes. Alison reminisced: “Do you remember last year when lovely Dermot (O’Leary) and the whole team brought me a wonderful chair with the plaque of my mum’s name on it?”
She continued, emotionally: “It’s dead centre in the middle of the stage and literally, it’s like I’m performing to my mum. It means the world to me, it’s beautiful. It’s lovely to be back.”
Alison explained to Kate that witnessing her performance would reveal why she cherishes a particular seat in the theatre. She elaborated: “I look at the person (in the seat, the person thinks I’m looking at them, I’m not! I’m seeing my mum!”
During last year’s festive edition of This Morning, Alison was visibly moved to tears after being presented with a touching tribute. Not only did she receive a seat in her honour, but adjacent to it was another dedicated to her late mother, reports .
This Morning’s Alison Hammond shares touching tribute to late mum in unexpected appearance (Image: ITV)
The inscription read: “Mama Foster, ‘The most beautiful sound I ever heard Maria’.”
An emotional Alison embraced Dermot tightly, tearfully expressing her gratitude for as she commented:”Thank you so much, that’s the best Christmas present I ever had.”
The year 2020 brought devastating loss for Alison as she bereaved both her parents; Maria died in January from lung and liver cancer, followed by the death of her father Clifford just a few months after.
Speaking on Loose Women previously, Alison shared her poignant struggle with grief, revealing that the passing of Queen Elizabeth II reignited the sorrow of losing her mother.
Alison burst into tears after getting the thoughtful gift (Image: ITV)
She said: “I thought I had grieved but when the Queen died it all came down on me. It hit me like a thunderbolt and I had to go to the cemetery.”
Alison described being overwhelmed with emotion long after her mother’s passing, saying: “That was my grief and it came two years later. It really surprised me. I was literally floored. Anything anyone said I cried because my mum wasn’t there.”
In a lighter moment during Friday’s broadcast, Alison enthused about her role in the pantomime Peter Pan, exclaiming: “It’s a wonderful panto and here, obviously we’re in godsland, Birmingham, so it’s one of those theatres that it doesn’t matter where you sit in the theatre, every seat is beautiful.
Alison is currently playing a mermaid in panto (Image: ITV)
She continued with hometown pride: “They are the best crowd, in Birmingham you get the best crowd. I was here last year and because I loved it so much, I thought, you know what, I’m coming back!”
Kate lauded Alison for her previous year’s performance, to which Alison playfully hinted that this year’s production is even more spectacular.
This Morning continues weekdays on ITV from 10am.