LIVING LIFE TO THE FULL: ‘PEOPLE PAY YOU MORE ATTENTION WHEN YOU LOSE WEIGHT'

AS SHE RELEASES HER NEW MEMOIR YOU’VE GOT TO LAUGH ALISON HAMMOND CHATS TO OK! ABOUT BODY CONFIDENCE GOING ON TINDER AND WHY SHE WISHES SHE’D HAD MORE CHILDREN

- GEORGIA TREVITT

Alison Hammond is celebrating the launch of her new book, You’ve Got To Laugh, when we meet up with her in London. Sitting next to a supersize cardboard cut-out of the cover, Alison is beaming with excitement and pride.

“This book is like having a piece of me in your house,” she says. “I absolutely loved writing it. It’s like a gift to everybody.”

From diets and dating to her career, there’s no holding back in the memoir. But Alison admits she’s not worried about what people might think.

“I wrote it with love and I wrote it from the heart. It’s true to what I believe so I’m not that nervous about it,” Alison tells us. “If you don’t like me, you don’t like me!”

The vivacious TV presenter found fame on the 2002 series of Big Brother and went on to become one of the show’s most successful contestants, despite being the second housemate to be evicted. She took part in I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! in 2010 and has been a guest presenter on This Morning since 2003.

Alison now co-presents the show with Dermot O’Leary on Fridays – and tells us she “loves” his company.

Here, Alison, 46, who is mum to a 16-year-old son Aidan, opens up about motherhood, romance and loving her body…

Congrats on the book, Alison!

I’m buzzing. I can’t believe I’ve got a book. I’ve got a legacy now to leave for my family and my son. I’ve never felt so proud. I’m over the moon.

We’re surprised you haven’t written one before now…

Me too! It’s a crime as far as I’m concerned [laughs].