Ebullient Brummie presenter Alison Hammond has revealed that her dream job would be appearing in a hit drama series, and even picked out the role she’d love to play
Alison Hammond(Image: ITV)
After rising to fame through Big Brother in 2002, Alison Hammond has enjoyed a successful career as a presenter on everything from ITV’s This Morning to The Great British Bake Off. She’s also tried her hand at acting in the past, appearing on Doctors and The Dumping Ground.
But, Alison confessed to her This Morning co-host Dermot O’Leary on his BBC Radio 2 show this weekend, there’s one job she really wants away from the daytime TV show that she will probably never get.
The TV icon, who was named in January as host of Netflix’s Official Bridgerton Podcast, says she would love a cameo in the hit period drama: “I love Bridgerton,” she explained to Dermot. “It’s so diverse, you see black people in that time…I just love it.”
“I want to be in it,” she added, “so I have asked Jess [showrunner Jess Brownell] if I can be in the show, and I asked Shonda [executive producer Shonda Rhimes] but I don’t think it’s going to happen.”
Alison then clarified that she “kind of” trained as an actor, attending drama workshops run by Central Television from the age of 11, but her family couldn’t afford to send her to drama school.
Alison was chatting to This Morning co-host Dermot O’Leary(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
That setback doesn’t appear to have harmed her career in the long-term, though, and Alison has built an impressive CV that includes, as well as This Morning, dozens of other TV shows including For the Love Of Dogs.
Alison has popped up in the celebrity versions of Coach Trip and MasterChef, as well as The Masked Singer and Celebs Go Dating. But despite her busy schedule, she made the time to anchor the Bridgerton podcast.
“I’ve done a little bit of behind the scenes on the show,” Alison told Bridgerton fansite Shondaland, “And I’ve gotten to see all the extras and how it works. I think I even tried on Queen Charlotte’s wig.”
Alison says she was thrilled to be picked for the Bridgerton job(Image: Mike Marsland/WireImage)
She explains that Netflix picked her for the podcast job because they realised she was a Bridgerton superfan: “They came to me, and it was literally a no-brainer. I’m a busy girl, I had no time, but I made the time. It had to be done. Because I love Bridgerton. I love escapism. I love the magic.”
If Alison ever were to play a role in the show, she says her ideal character would be Adjoa Andoh’s Lady Danbury: “I like to watch what’s going on,” she said. “Observe, see what’s happening. Maybe a little bit of a gossip here and there but nothing too extra.
“I’m the sort of person who probably stays in positions a bit too long and needs to spend a bit more time alone and have more holidays. And I feel like Lady Danbury needs a bit more time to herself.
“I don’t think I’d be like Mrs. Whistledown because I just can’t be bothered. I won’t have the time to do all the writing business. I think I’m more of an observer, which I think Lady Danbury is.
“I mean, she knows what’s going on. She has all the gossip. She’s the one who delivers it. She gives people advice, and that is me.”