Photo: Iona Wolff/BAFTA/Getty
In March 2023, following the departure of actor and comedianMatt Lucas, it was announced that Hammond would join Noel Fielding as co-host for season 14.
“It’s official!! It’s happeningThe Great British Bake Off! Let’s have it,” Hammond shared onTwitteralongside a video. “The cake that is. So excited.”
She was born in Birmingham, England, in 1975
According to a 2004 interview withBBC Birmingham, Hammond was born and raised in Kingstanding, Birmingham, England, and attended the Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School.
“Everyone knew everyone’s business but that’s what I loved about it,” she told the outlet. “I was very fond of school.”
When asked what she likes or dislikes about her hometown, Hammond said, “I don’t like the accent, even though I can’t get rid of mine,” adding that her “passion” is Birmingham’s architecture.
She got her start onBig Brother
Yui Mok - PA Images/PA Images/Getty
“It definitely changed my life,” she toldWoman’s Ownin 2013 of her experience on the show. “I made some lovely friends onBig Brotherand it changed my career path. I’m very grateful for that, as I love what I’m doing at the moment. I don’t think it’s changed me as a person, though. I’ve got the same life as I did before, I’ve just got another life on the side, which is good fun too!' "
She replaced Matt Lucas as co-host ofThe Great British Baking Show
In March 2023, it was announced that Hammond would be stepping in as a co-host ofThe Great British Baking Show, which is known in the U.K. asThe Great British Bake Off,alongside host Noel Fielding and judgesPaul HollywoodandPrue Leith.
Lucas announced his departurefrom the baking show in December 2022 after three years on the program, citing his busy schedule as his reason for leaving.
She has a son
David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty
Hammond doesn’t often speak publicly about her son Aidan, who was born in 2005, but she has shared a few glimpses into her life as a mom over the years.
They’ve also appeared publicly together; in 2022, Aidan joined his mother on the British Academy Television Awards red carpet.
In a 2013 interview withWoman’s Own, Hammond said that her main ambition for the future was to “just be a good mum.”
She continued: “I’m quite busy these days, so I can’t be with him all the time. I want him to grow up and say, ‘My mum was really, really amazing.’ I’d like him to be proud of me — that would be a big achievement. I’d be devastated if one day he said, ‘My mum wasn’t there for me.’ "
She’s written two books
Alison Hammond Instagram
Nearly 20 years into her hosting career, Hammond released a memoir titledYou’ve Got to Laugh: Stories from a Life Lived to the Full. Published in 2021, the book offers insight into both her professional life as well as personal anecdotes.
In 2022, she released a children’s book calledBlack in Time, which was co-written with E.L. Norry.
She’s a daytime talk show host
“Firstly, I’m a mother to a 15-year-old Black boy,” she said. “So when I saw that image of George Floyd, I saw my brothers, I saw my father, I saw my son. I saw everybody’s son, and I was disgusted to my core. And it hurt me to the pit of my stomach.”
After leavingBig Brother, Hammond appeared on other reality competition shows in the U.K. likeCelebrity Fit Club,I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!andCelebrity MasterChef.
source: people.com
