Before she was known as the queen of daytime, star of the Great British Bake Off tent and all-round hun, it’s easy to forget that Alison Hammond first rose to fame as a contestant on the original run of Big Brother.
The future This Morning host entered the house during its third year on Channel 4 back in 2002, sharing a living space with Adele Roberts, Jade Goody and eventual winner Kate Lawler.
And considering Alison is now one of the most popular stars on TV, it might come as a surprise to hear she lasted just two weeks in the Big Brother compound, becoming the second housemate to be evicted from the series.
But while her time in the Big Brother house may have been short and sweet, Alison certainly made an impression all the same.
Arguably her finest hour came in the lead-up to her eviction, when she and fellow contestant Kate were trying to use the dining room table to see over the Big Brother wall.
Unfortunately, that’s not quite how things played out, with Alison having to sheepishly take herself off to the diary room to own up to Big Brother about how she’d come to wreck the place…
After a five-year absence from our screens, Big Brother is being rebooted on ITV this weekend, with Alison revealing during Friday’s This Morning that she’ll most certainly be tuning in.
“I owe that show so much, I can’t believe it’s coming back,” she enthused.
Reflecting on her time in the house, she told co-host Dermot O’Leary: “For me, it felt like a holiday. A two-week holiday – remember, I only lasted two weeks.
“I’d just come back from being a holiday rep so I used to just do all the stuff I used to do on holiday, with everyone in the house, so I just have such lovely memories.”
Big Brother launches on Sunday night at 9pm on ITV1 and ITV2. This Morning airs every weekday from 10am on ITV1.