Entertainment
Alison Hammond almost chose Blind Date over Big Brother: ‘I wanted to meet Cilla Black and I wanted to meet a bloke’
Alison Hammond almost featured on Blind Date instead of Big Brother (Picture: REX/GETTY)
Alison Hammond starred in reality series Big Brother back in 2002, however she revealed that she almost didn’t appear on the show because she had her eye on Blind Dates.
The This Morning presenter rose to fame 19 years ago when she was a contestant on Channel 4’s Big Brother, the same series featuring the late Jade Goody and Kate Lawler.
Although the star only lasted 15 days in the house, her career has skyrocketed since then and she has now become a household name in television.
However, things could have taken a different turn for the TV personality if she didn’t trust her gut – as she was considering the idea of appearing on hit dating show Blind Dates, which was presented by the late Cilla Black, at the same time as Big Brother.
In an interview with Heat magazine, Alison said: ‘I wanted to do Blind Date, because I wanted to meet Cilla Black and I wanted to meet a bloke, so I thought, “This is a great thing to do.” But I was also in a bit of debt, and someone said you could win £70K on Big Brother, so I thought, oh that’s a good idea.’
‘It was so weird, because I got both the offers at the same time, and I had to pick and choose. I was so shallow, I didn’t choose love, I chose money,’ she added.
Alison last 15 days in the Big Brother house back in 2002 (Picture: Channel 4)
Cilla Black’s Blind Date was one of the UK’s most popular TV shows of the 80s and 90s (Picture:Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Although her time on the game show was short lived. The presenter believes that she wouldn’t have had the career she has now if she hadn’t been voted off the show after two weeks.
‘I always think, what would’ve happened if I’d won Big Brother,’ she said.
More: ITV
‘Would my career have gone in this direction? And I don’t believe it would have, because the This Morning producer who watched my best bits never watched Big Brother, but had just happened to turn on.’
Alison currently co-hosts This Morning on Fridays with Dermot O’Leary, and she is set to become the face of In The Style’s inclusive range, and is gearing up to release her memoir, You’ve Got To Laugh.
This Morning airs weekdays at 10am on ITV.
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