It was hard to replace my friends Eamonn and Ruth on This Morning, but they told me to go for it, says Alison Hammond
ALISON Hammond has revealed how hard it was to replace Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford on This Morning.
In January last year, Alison and co-host Dermot O'Leary took over from the husband and wife duo as Friday presenters on the ITV show.
The news shocked fans as Eamonn and Ruth had hosted on Fridays for 15 years.
While many fans have taken to Alison and Dermot, there was some backlash over the situation, and Alison, 46, admits it was also difficult for her to replace her friends.
Speaking on Lorraine Kelly and her daughter Rosie's podcast, What If? she explained: "It's been really authentic, and we've been really honest from that to say, like, we did struggle…
"It was difficult in the beginning, it was really hard, you know, with everything that came with it as well, it was really a tough time to negotiate.
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"You know, I don't know if people realise, I got a lot of flack as well doing that job because obviously my friends were doing it beforehand, Eammon and Ruth, it was tough to do it, and Eammon and Ruth told me to go for it."
Alison also highlighted another factor that made her new role on the show more difficult.
She said: "I tell you what was really upsetting, I remember reading an article and it was the first time that I'd become just a colour because it said black host replaces Eammon and Ruth and it really upsets me.
"Its the first time I thought, 'oh my gosh, I'm just colour, I'm nothing else,' I'm not Alison Hammond anymore, which I'd always been, I just became a black host, and that really was quite shocking and quite upsetting.
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"I had a lot of stress before doing that first show so I was really nervous but I think, again, I overcome it and it's been OK."
During her chat with Lorraine and Rosie, Alison also spoke about her weight and how she gets daily comments from trolls about it.
She said: "Why do people feel the need to tell me something that is so blatantly obvious and maybe think that I've probably told myself it a hundred times before anyway so I don't' really need anyone to tell me I'm overweight because I see myself every single day.
"It's a describing word isn't it? You're saying to me I'm fat. Thank you. OK. And where do we go from there?"
What If? with Lorraine & Rosie is available on Apple podcasts.
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