“Alison Hammond Confident She’s ‘Made’ for Strictly Come Dancing Role Amid Host Shake-Up”

Alison Hammond has insisted she is “made” to take over Strictly Come Dancing. The presenter, 51, was a contestant on the BBC Saturday night favourite in 2014 and managed to reach 10th place alongside Aljaž Škorjanec.

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The Big Brother legend, who has gone on to front This Morning and a string of other hit TV programmes since she starred on the Channel 4 reality show in 2002, was told at the time that she was too overweight to take part, and refused to listen.

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She said: “I’ll never forget being told, “You can’t do Strictly. You’re too overweight. You need to lose weight. I did Strictly when I was 25 stone!” Alison, who has shed an incredible 11 stone, was then asked about the idea of herself taking the reins following last year’s shocking departure of long-standing hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.

Rumours have been rife about who might take the coveted television jobs, with names such as Zoe Ball and Rylan Clark, as well as Alison’s fellow This Morning star Sian Welby, all being touted. But Alison thinks she would be a perfect fit to take over from Tess and Claudia, who fronted the programme for more than a decade together.

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In the initial announcement, which consisted of a video of the pair sitting next to one another, Claudia began with: “Hi, it’s Claud and Tess. There have been some rumblings, and we want you to hear this from us…” Tess added: “Yeah, we have news. After 21 wonderfully joyful years on Strictl,y we have decided the time is right to step aside and pass on the baton…”

“The very sparkly baton…” Claudia continued before she turned to Tess and said: “You’ve been here since the beginning…” Tess, who used to host the show with the late Bruce Forsyth, then replied: “2004 with Brucey – lovely Bruce.

“That’s over two decades ago and a lot of that time has been with you. It’s been a huge part of our lives, hasn’t it? Since our children were literally babes in arms and now they’re young adults and I think, genuinely we have cherished every second.”

Claudia added: “We have, we’re so lucky to have been part of this amazing show and we just want to thank the Strictly team because Strictly is the people who make it so thank you…” Tess agreed: “They are the very best team in television we’ve been so lucky.

“And the audience as well, they’ve been so wonderful. They’ve been with us for this entire journey of 21 years and we wouldn’t have a show without them and they’ve been just so loyal and supportive.”

Claudia added: “We have, we’re so lucky to have been part of this amazing show and we just want to thank the Strictly team because Strictly is the people who make it so thank you…” Tess agreed: “They are the very best team in television we’ve been so lucky.

Sutton Stracke doesn’t think Dorit Kemsley should return to The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills for its upcoming 16th season.

As she also reflected on her spat with Dorit, 49, at Rachel Zoe‘s house over her efforts to have her sit down and reconcile with Kyle Richards, 57, Sutton appeared on Jeff Lewis‘ radio, where she, without naming names, responded to a question about who she felt should not be a part of the show moving forward.

“Well, I’m just not gonna name names. I’m not gonna do that,” Sutton, 54, first said on the April 2 episode of SiriusXM’s Jeff Lewis Live.

Then, signaling Dorit’s ongoing lateness, Sutton described her castmate as “challenging.”

“I find one personality in particular challenging, not because she’s late all the time. Just because … It’s just difficult for me. That’s just a personality thing for me,” she explained. 

Although Jeff, 56, said he felt Dorit was “incredibly unlikeable” this season, his co-host praised her bilingual skills, and Sutton agreed, offering additional compliments.

“That girl can speak some Italian. She’s beautiful, and I think she’s very smart, and I love when she speaks Italian,” she concluded.

Meanwhile, on the April 9 episode of the RHOBH: After Show, Sutton said that when it came to her spat with Dorit on Thursday’s episode, she had good intentions.

“I was really trying to not be confrontational, but come from a very sincere, calm place … I was really making an effort … I wanted a friendship with Dorit, truly. So, I felt like if I was honest with my feelings in that moment, that it would help,” she explained. “[But] Dorit did not want to leave her conversation with this woman to speak to me, and she was angry about it. She didn’t want to deal with me, which was showing me exactly that she doesn’t want to have a real friendship with me.”

“Why would you be that angry?” she asked. “She was not having it … [And] it was upsetting for me, and that’s okay.”

After Dorit was seen shutting Sutton down, which Kyle said she “would not have [done] to [Bozoma ‘Boz’ Saint John],” Dorit revealed where she was coming from.

“She came on the dance floor. I was like, having fun. And Sutton comes over. I was like, ‘Oh my God, what the f*ck?’” she recalled. “You know what she told me she was mad at? That I turned my body and was directing it to Rachel. It was so f*cking ridiculous, and she wanted an apology. I was like, ‘You know what? I’m not even going to challenge [her].’ I was like, ‘I’m so sorry.’”

“The problem is, I know what she’s doing. I know it. So, it’s like, really? I’m supposed to play along?” Dorit added. “[She was] trying to grasp at straws.”