She gets trolled on TikTok, but it just makes her chuckle – the Bake Off host is determined to find the happiness in everything. She talks giggling, golf buggies and Paul Hollywood’s expensive hands
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ll Alison Hammond wants is to “bring happiness and spread joy”. She’s so devoted to this mission she even did it straight after the death, five years ago, of her beloved mother Maria. “My mum died in hospital at 5.30am,” she recalls. “At 6am, I went out to my car and this woman stopped me for a selfie. I said sure, no problem. I knew it would make her happy, so I hid behind my own smile. Little did she know my mum had just died but looking back, oh my God – I’ll always remember it.”
The 50-year-old Brummie whirlwind loves to make someone’s day. At her local supermarket recently, she met a fan called Kate who’d just lost her own mother. “I’ll never forget how hard it was when my mum passed, so I invited Kate to the Bake Off final. She met Paul Hollywood and he gave her a handshake. She said it was the best day of her life. It doesn’t take a lot, does it? Kindness truly does make a difference.”
Hammond’s high-wattage enthusiasm and infectious humour have won her a devoted following but she’s fully aware that hers can be a divisive screen presence. “Not everyone likes me. Look, I’ll show you a video that tickled me.” She plays a TikTok of a woman grumbling about her joining the cast of Celebrity Gogglebox. “Give somebody else a chance, love,” she rants. “We’re sick of the bloody sight of you.”
