ITV This Morning star 'taking a year off' after being left 'exhausted'

Daily Mirror

27-06-2025

This Morning presenter Alison Hammond spoke to Alexandra Burke and Lesley Joseph about the impact of performing live as the two stage stars head on tour.
On a recent instalment of This Morning, ITV's well-loved Alison Hammond shared that she'll be taking a breather from her hectic career schedule.
In conversation with Alexandra Burke and Lesley Joseph about their upcoming musical tour, The Addams Family, the famed presenter shed light on the demanding nature of live performances.
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As Alexandra gave insight into the intense routine of touring, where performers can take on up to a dozen shows a week, she said: "You don't really get a life outside of it, but that's ok because you're entertaining other people."
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Lesley, turning towards Alison, commented: "We're looking at the panto Queen! Birmingham. Three panto Queens sitting on the sofa."
Alison admitted: "But the thing is, you've been doing it year after year. I'm having a year off because I was so exhausted from last year and the year before. It is a discipline."
The theatre enthusiast Lesley Joseph emphasised her adoration for pantomime, underlining the unique family atmosphere it creates, reports Wales Online.
She said: "The whole family comes and it's the one time in the year that anybody, grandma down to the youngest children can come and really love it. You know, you've done it now."
Echoing Lesley's sentiments, Alison then discussed how cast members bond like a true family through the numerous hours spent together.
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Previously, audiences were captivated as Alison dazzled as the Magical Mermaid in Birmingham's Hippodrome Theatre's Peter Pan pantomime, even sharing behind-the-scenes moments with This Morning viewers before hitting the stage.
At the time Alison wore her stage costume and shared her most cherished aspect of being in the play. She revealed: "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?
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"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.
"I look at the person (in the seat, the person thinks I'm looking at them, I'm not! I'm seeing my mum!".
The TV favourite lost her mum Maria in January 2020 to lung and liver cancer, and just months later, she faced the heartbreak of her father Clifford's also dying.