This Morning’s Alison Hammond is absolutely gutted.
She recently heard the news that show editor Martin Frizell is stepping down after a stellar 10-year stint. The telly editor, who first dipped his toes at ITV in 2014 as Editor of Loose Women and later took the helm at This Morning, will be bowing out in Spring 2025.
Alison shared: “I’ve worked with Martin for 10 years. I’ll be honest with you I’m absolutely devastated. He’s been a real rock for the show, but it’s totally understandable why he’s leaving. You all know about his wife (Fiona Phillips). We get why he’s leaving, it’s very amicable. He doesn’t want to leave but he has to for family reasons. We all understand that.”
READ MORE: This Morning boss quits after 10 years following Phillip Schofield scandal
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Hammond continued to heap praise, saying: “He’s the one who got me back on TV. He said ‘Alison’s really good, why don’t we use her?’ So if it wasn’t for him you wouldn’t see Alison Hammond so we owe him a lot, we owe him Alison Hammond. He is the man who got me back on TV, because there was a time that I wasn’t, in about 2007.”
The outpouring of love didn’t stop there as she said: “I started on This Morning and they weren’t using me then Martin came on board and he was like ‘why are we not using Alison Hammond’. He was the guy who made me the girl. So I’m really thankful to him. He’s a wonderful man. He’ll be sadly missed. We are all talking about it. Everyone is gutted, we all received an email yesterday. I’ve sent him a little message. He’s upset. It’s an emotional situation. He is very emotional,” reports the Mirror.
Martin has decided to leave his post, explaining: “Next year I’m expecting my family priorities to change so I need to free up time for them. I love my team at ITV and will miss them and the thrill of live telly but it’s an always on, 24 hours a day, seven days a week commitment and I won’t be able to do both.”
His wife, Fiona Phillips of GMTV fame, spoke out last year about her Alzheimer’s diagnosis at 62. Meanwhile, ratings for This Morning have suffered amidst recent controversies including seasoned host Phillip Schofield exiting after acknowledging an ‘unwise but not illegal’ relationship with a younger colleague.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk