She’s known for bringing her unique sense of fun to everything she tries her hand to on This Morning, but Alison Hammond has shown a different side to herself on Celebs Go Dating.
Alison is one of the stars currently looking for love on the E4 reality show, and after her first date with a new suitor, Ian, the daytime star shared her thoughts with agents Paul Carrick Brunson and Anna Williamson.
However, after confiding that she was hoping for a second date, Alison had a tearful moment when Anna suggested she wasn’t putting herself first enough.
“[There’s always] an emphasis placed on somebody else having a great time,” Anna told the star. “If someone does present [themselves] with such great joy, as you do, we always wonder if there’s a reason for that masking anything. Have you ever felt any hurt through a relationship?”
Alison then offered: “Just with my dad… it’s just abandonment issues.”
Through tears, she continued: “I was always happy for my mum, I wanted her to be happy, because he wasn’t there for her.”
Paul then told her self-love was important if she is serious about entering a relationship, to which she responded: “I think that’s the reason why I put on so much weight, because I don’t care, I don’t love myself. Maybe I’m not ready for a relationship yet. Because I don’t love me.
“It’s like an epiphany,” she added. “I’ve never even thought about it in that way.”
Fortunately, later in the episode Alison said she was still optimistic about her dating future, saying she hoped to meet someone who could “teach her things she doesn’t already know”.
“Smart people need stimulation,” she told Paul and Anna. “I need a stimulator.”
Oh, Alison. Please never change.
Alison originally rose to fame as a contestant on the third series of Big Brother, before landing a small presenting role on This Morning, which has grown over the years to the point she’s now one of the daytime show’s best-loved presenters.
More recently, she’s appeared with Joe Lycett in the BBC series The Time It Takes, with tabloid reports claiming Alison is even about to land her own chat show on ITV.
Celebs Go Dating airs nightly at 9pm on E4.