Alison Hammond's Heart Check: The Confirmed Facts After She Left This Morning Mid-Show
- 🔑 Alison Hammond, 51, left ITV’s live This Morning on Friday 2 October 2026 at about 11:30 BST after appearing to clutch her chest, and went to hospital for a heart check-up. On Saturday 3 October she said she was home, feeling much better and that her checks were all clear.
- Friday’s edition began at 10:00 BST with Hammond and co-presenter Dermot O’Leary. About 11:30, during a segment about pets, she was helped off set and the show cut to an advert break. O’Leary said she was feeling a little unwell, and later told viewers she would not return that day.
- From a hospital bed on Friday afternoon she posted an Instagram video saying she was fine, had had a palpitation and was getting her heart checked. She said she hoped it was just a little panic attack. That was her own hope while tests were under way, not a medical finding.
- In a second video on Saturday she thanked NHS staff for checks on her heart, lungs and blood, said everything was clear, and described what happened as a panic attack on live TV, adding that she is new to them. The panic-attack description is hers, not a published medical statement.
- As of the evening of Saturday 3 October 2026 we found no statement from ITV, her representatives or a doctor, and no hospital has been named. Nothing we read says whether she stayed overnight. We offer no diagnosis, cause or outlook, and no prediction about her return to any programme.
Alison Hammond left ITV’s live This Morning on Friday 2 October 2026 after what she called a palpitation, went to hospital for a heart check-up, and said on Saturday 3 October that she is home, feeling much better and that her checks came back clear. Everything below rests on what she said in her own Instagram videos and what her co-presenter said on air, as relayed by national news outlets.
This report is pinned to the evening of Saturday 3 October 2026 (UK time). Last updated: 3 October 2026, about 19:15 BST. It adds no diagnosis, cause or outlook of its own.
What happened on This Morning on Friday 2 October 2026?
Hammond appeared to clutch her chest at about 11:30 BST during a segment about pets, and co-presenter Dermot O’Leary helped her off set before the show cut to an advert break. Friday’s edition had begun at 10:00 BST with Hammond and O’Leary, her regular Friday partner, and reports describe the segment as a phone-in. When the programme returned, O’Leary said she was “feeling a little unwell” and had “just had to duck out”, and he hoped she would be back. He later told viewers she would not return, so he presented the rest of the show on his own.
What did Hammond say from hospital on Friday?
In an Instagram video posted from a hospital bed on Friday afternoon, she said she was fine and was having her heart checked after a palpitation. Reports describe the clip as a Story, with a joking caption about getting a day off. She said “Honestly, I am fine”, described “a little bit of a palpitation” and apologised for leaving the show, saying she would not normally do that. She also said she hoped it was “just a little panic attack”. That was her own hope while tests were under way, not a medical finding.
What did she say after going home on Saturday 3 October 2026?
In a second Instagram video on Saturday she said she was home, safe and feeling “so much better”, and thanked NHS staff for checks on her heart, lungs and blood that she said were all clear. She said that result would mean she had had “a massive panic attack on live TV”. She added that it felt very real to her, that she is new to panic attacks and that she wants to learn more about them. She thanked her This Morning colleagues, singled out O’Leary, said she had not wanted to be in the news, and said she would take stock and rest.
Is there a diagnosis or an official statement?
No diagnosis or official statement has been published in the coverage we read as of the evening of Saturday 3 October 2026. The panic-attack description is Hammond’s own, and none of the reports we read quotes a doctor, a hospital, ITV or her representatives. Some headlines use stronger language than the reporting supports. We say she went to hospital for a heart check-up, which is how the careful reports put it, and we offer no medical explanation for what happened.
What do we still not know?
We do not know which hospital she attended, whether she stayed overnight, or when she left. Her Saturday video says only that she is home. We also have no test details beyond her own list of heart, lungs and blood checks, and no word from ITV or her representatives on her work. She has said only that she will rest, and we make no prediction about her return to This Morning, Bake Off or anything else.
Who is Alison Hammond?
Alison Hammond, 51, is a Birmingham-born presenter who first came to wide attention as a contestant on Channel 4’s Big Brother. She went on to appear on I’m A Celebrity and Strictly Come Dancing and became a This Morning co-host in 2021. She was part of the team that won a National Television Award for best daytime programme the following year. She joined The Great British Bake Off in 2023 and took over For the Love of Dogs from the late Paul O’Grady in 2024. O’Leary is 53.
Where can readers find NHS advice on palpitations?
NHS guidance says to call 999 or go to A&E if palpitations do not go away, or come with chest pain, shortness of breath, or feeling faint or fainting. That is general advice, not a comment on Hammond’s case. The NHS website says to see a GP for palpitations that keep coming back.
This page will be updated in place, not republished, if ITV, Hammond or her representatives add anything. For background on the series she co-hosts, see our explainer on Nigella Lawson’s arrival as a Bake Off judge .
How we verified this
What was checked, and when. Everything was re-checked on the evening of Saturday 3 October 2026 (UK time), at about 19:15 BST, against news listings and the articles themselves, because the story moved between a Friday video from a hospital bed and a Saturday video from home. A morning-of-recon version of this story would have been out of date.
Sources for Saturday’s video. Hammond’s wording was read in full in five independent reports from different parent companies (a public-service broadcaster’s news site, a London evening paper, two national tabloid sites and a UK entertainment-news site), plus a syndicated copy of a national daily’s report. They agree on every phrase we quote. Friday’s timeline was read in the broadcaster’s report and cross-checked against a national daily and the tabloid and evening-paper pieces; an earlier research pass also read two entertainment-trade outlets for Friday’s quotes.
Primary source. Hammond’s own Instagram videos are the primary source. We could not open Instagram directly, so every quote is as relayed by those outlets, which match each other.
Conflicts between sources. O’Leary’s on-air line is worded differently across outlets (some give a shortened first name and a different ending); we followed the broadcaster’s report, which a national daily also matches. Outlets differ on the last words of Hammond’s sign-off, so we paraphrase it. Some outlets say she first appeared on This Morning in 2003; we state only that she became co-host in 2021, as the broadcaster’s report does.
Wording choices. The words panic attack appear only as Hammond’s own description, never as a diagnosis. Stronger hospital and diagnosis language in some headlines was not adopted; we say she went to hospital for a heart check-up, which is how the careful reports put it. Some headlines refer to discharge; the reports we read give only her statement that she is home, so we say that.
Official statements. None of the reports we read quotes ITV, a hospital, a doctor or Hammond’s representatives. We do not invent or imply one.
What we left out on purpose. Background on her earlier health, off-camera detail from the studio and unattributed claims about how she left the building, all of which some outlets ran. None is needed to report the confirmed facts.
NHS guidance. The palpitations line follows the NHS website’s palpitations page as read through a page summary; check the page itself for current wording.
Still moving. At write time ITV, her representatives or Hammond could still add statements, and the Monday edition of This Morning and Bake Off’s Tuesday episodes had not yet aired. We make no prediction about either. No betting odds, spreads, or win-probability models appear anywhere on this page.