Alison Hammond has told fans that her sudden exit from live television on Friday, October 2, was a panic attack and not a heart problem. The This Morning presenter, 51, left the ITV set clutching her chest an hour into the show, and an ambulance took her to hospital. Doctors checked her heart, lungs and blood, and she says every result came back clear.
She shared the news in a new Instagram video from home. “I’m home, I’m safe, and I’m feeling so much better,” she said, and she thanked the NHS staff who ran her tests. She also said she plans to rest.
What viewers saw on air
The scare happened on Friday’s live broadcast. According to the Daily Mail, Hammond had been having palpitations about an hour into the programme. Viewers saw her at the edge of the frame, clutching her chest, before co-host Dermot O’Leary guided her away from the sofa. The Press Association reported that she could also be heard breathing heavily.
The show was partway through a segment about pets, according to the Press Association. Dr Scott looked worried as he tried to carry on with the segment, and the Daily Mail reported that a loud retching sound could be heard in the background. The programme then cut to an ad break.
When it returned, O’Leary stood alone on set. He told viewers that Hammond was “feeling just a little unwell” and had to “duck out,” and he hoped she would be back soon. Later in the show he said she would not return and that he would host the rest of the programme himself.
A source told the Daily Mail at the time: “She’s gone to hospital but we think she’s OK.” The same source said: “She walked into the ambulance after leaving the studio.” ITV had not commented when the Daily Mail contacted the broadcaster. Ambulances were seen outside the ITV studios, which matches the source’s description of her leaving the building on foot.
Hammond did not come back on air that day, and O’Leary finished the broadcast by himself.
What Hammond said from hospital
Hammond updated followers on her Instagram Stories while doctors examined her. She opened by addressing the people worried about her: “Honestly I am fine first of all.” She thanked them for their messages and said she loved them. She was “getting my old ticker checked out,” she said, and she had felt “a little palpitation.” She hoped it was “just a little panic attack or something like that.”
She also apologised to viewers for leaving the show. “I would never leave a TV show but I wasn’t very well,” she said. She filmed that video in a hospital gown, and she joked that she still had her This Morning make-up on.
The all clear and what she plans to do
The later video gave the results. Hammond said the tests were clear, which meant she “had a massive panic attack on live TV.” She added a joke about the embarrassment, then turned serious. She said “it felt very real to me.” She added: “I’m really new to panic attacks so I need to learn more about it.”
She thanked This Morning colleagues and the viewers who sent messages. She singled out O’Leary: “Dermot who has just been incredible.” She called the experience “a new world to me” and said she would “take stock” and get some rest before she returns to screens.
Her two sets of updates fit together. In hospital she guessed the cause herself, saying she hoped it was a panic attack while she waited on tests. The home video gave the answer once the checks were finished. The tone stayed light in both, with jokes about her gown, her make-up and the embarrassment of it happening live.
The timeline is short. The palpitations began about an hour into the show. She left the set with O’Leary and went to hospital by ambulance. She is now at home with clear results.
A busy few weeks
Hammond has been working across two major shows. She has been promoting the return of Channel 4’s Great British Bake Off, which she presents with Noel Fielding. Nigella Lawson has joined that show as a new judge. Her other job is live: This Morning airs weekdays on ITV1 and streams on ITVX, and Hammond hosts the Friday edition with O’Leary, so any absence shows on screen at once.
Hammond has worked on This Morning since 2002, according to The Independent. She took over the Friday slot in 2020, after Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford left the show. She says leaving mid-show is something she would not usually do, and her 24 years on the programme back that up.
Her health routine
Hammond has spoken openly about her health in recent years. She began changing her lifestyle about five years ago, after a health warning that she was pre-diabetic. She has told Women’s Health that her mother had Type 2 diabetes and that learning of her own pre-diabetes was frightening. “I thought, ‘I have to be an adult about this’,” she said.
She started working with a personal trainer and changed her diet. She has said she once had “a childish mentality” about food, especially toffees, and now has only a couple a day. She has since added Reformer Pilates and boxing, and she posts videos of her workouts online. She says Reformer Pilates helps because she is “stiff as a board.” She keeps a sleep tracker and a speaker under her pillow that plays relaxing music. She also does a full-hour circuit class at 6.30am with Steve Hensel at Blue Zone, which she calls “a proper old-school gym.” She says she leaves the gym feeling “amazing.”
She has framed the change as a matter of age. “We’re not getting any younger, are we babes?” she told the Radio Times, adding that at some point you have to look after yourself.
How viewers reacted
Viewers voiced their concern online. One viewer wrote on X: “What on earth has happened with Alison? Hope she’s OK.” Another asked: “What just happened to Alison Hammond? Frightening.” A third wrote: “I am very worried about Alison, I hope she is OK, she’s a great presenter.”
Hammond’s Instagram updates, first from the hospital and then from home, gave those viewers direct word from her. ITV has not issued a statement in the coverage available so far, and the Daily Mail said it had contacted the broadcaster for comment.
What happens next
Hammond has posted each of her statements so far on Instagram, and viewers are most likely to see the next one there. She has not given a return date for This Morning or for any other work. She has said only that she will rest and “see you soon.” Her next appearances will show how quickly she goes back to a schedule that covers a live Friday show and a Bake Off run.
She has also said she wants to learn more about panic attacks, being new to them. For viewers who watched her leave the set, the main facts are now clear: the heart checks were normal, she is home, and she is resting.
