This Morning's Alison in tears as she receives 'best Christmas present ever'

24 December 2023 , 00:01

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This Morning's Alison in tears as she receives 'best Christmas present ever'

This Morning's Christmas Day special is set for emotional scenes when Alison Hammond breaks down in tears as she receives the 'best Christmas present ever'.

The festive two-hour instalment is back for its fourth year in a row, where Alison, 48, is joined by co-hosts Dermot O'Leary, Josie Gibson and Craig Doyle in the ITV studio. Also featuring on the Christmas special is Gyles Brandreth, John Torode in the kitchen with tips on how to upgrade your Christmas Dinner and Neighbours legend Alan Fletcher.

During the episode, Alison, Dermot, Josie, Craig and Gyles sit down to open their presents to one another with emotional results. Dermot says to Alison: "You’ve got something lovely. So, at the moment you’ve got the day off but where are you performing panto right now?" to which Alison replies: "In Birmingham."

Alison Hammond breaks down in tears as she receives the 'best Christmas present ever' (ITV)

Dermot then asks: "Yeah, whereabouts?" with Alison replying: "The Hippodrome." Dermot then continues: "The Birmingham Hippodrome. Well it’s a very special place for you and a lifelong dream that you’re performing there!" to which Alison admits: "Massively!"

Revealing her gift, Dermot says: "So we took the liberty of doing something… Can we just take a look at this? So, we’ve named a seat 'Alison Hammond, TV Queen and pantomime star'. That’s named after you in perpetuity forever."

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Alison breaks down in tears over the thoughtful gift, saying: "I’m so sorry I’m crying, you don’t understand what that would have meant to my mum." Dermot then adds: "With that in mind, we know you used to go there with your mother so we’ve got the next seat along, we’ve just named it after your mother.

Alison, 48, is joined by co-hosts Dermot O'Leary, Josie Gibson and Craig Doyle (ITV)

"Now, we know also, we’ve talked about it many times that one of her favourite musicals was West Side Story so we’ve put 'the most beautiful sound I ever heard, Maria' on there." Dermot then gives a crying Alison a hug as she emotionally explains: "Thank you so much, that’s the best Christmas present I ever had. I love it, sorry I didn’t realise it was going to be a lovely present… I love it, thank you."

Elsewhere on the show, Alexandra Burke and Gregory Porter provide some magical music performances, plus TV legends Brian Conley and Brenda Blethyn pop by to discuss what to watch this Christmas, including EastEnders' Christmas special and a Vera Christmas special. Also, Dermot, Alison, Josie and Craig go head-to-head playing some brilliant party games.

Olivia Wheeler