As they celebrate two years of presenting together, Dermot and Alison get festive
PHOTOS: GETTY, SHUTTERSTOCK LISA BLAKE
EXCLUSIVE
They celebrate their two-year anniversary of hosting ITV1’s This Morning on Fridays next month – and Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary still get a massive buzz out of presenting the show together once a week.
Dermot tells new, “I cannot tell you how much I enjoy and look forward to Fridays. We text each other a few times during the week and by Wednesday and Thursday I start to get a bit excited about the laugh we’re going to have. It just doesn’t feel like a job. I’m aware it’s a really privileged thing to say but it just doesn’t.”
“It is amazing,” Alison adds. “Being together makes us smile the most.”
The pair will be on screen this Christmas Day, alongside Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, for This Morning’s special pre-recorded episode.
Here, Alison, 47, and Dermot, 49, chat about their festive traditions and Alison explains how she messed up Phil Vickery’s turkey recipe last year…
Hi Dermot and Alison! What are your Christmas traditions? Alison: Aside from loving all the decorations, I love going to the German markets in Birmingham – I treat myself to a sausage, have a look at the gifts, enjoy the smell of the chestnuts roasting… I just love the atmosphere. It feels like it could be Munich! I do that every year, so I guess that’s a tradition for me and my son.
Dermot:
London comes alive at Christmas too – it has that lovely Victorian Dickensian feel. The last few years I’ve been to see things like A Christmas Carol at The Old Vic. My sister lives in York and that’s a lovely place to be at Christmas too. And we’ve had Christmases in Ireland with Mum and Dad and we’d always go for long walks along the coast and, if we’re brave enough, go for a cold dip in the sea.
Will you be using any of the Christmas recipes from the This Morning chefs? Alison: Well, I did Phil Vickery’s turkey last year – but stupidly didn’t trust the hour theory. I was too scared so I left it in longer and it fell apart and was just crumbling. But everyone still loved it. No one noticed.
Dermot: You do a great spread when you’re entertaining though.
Alison: Yeah, I do a buffet so people can just help themselves. It works for everyone.
Dermot: You had Josie around last year, didn’t you?
Alison: Gibson’s coming again this year with her little one. So I’ll be cooking for her, our boys, my brother and there might be some friends who are doing panto locally too joining us.
Dermot: That’s lovely! Around our table will be family – we take it in
