Alison Hammond heartbroken over family loss amid 'tough' times with teen son

Initially, quietly-spoken Aidan Hammond seems the opposite of his mum Alison, whose full-throttle energy and infectious laughter has helped propel her to TV stardom. But it soon becomes clear, as OK! catches up with the pair, that they have a shorthand all of their own. As Alison prepares to celebrate her 50th birthday, the telly favourite opens up about her bond with Aidan, 20 this week, as they hit the road for their very first show together – BBC’s Florida Unpacked, which sees them try everything from salsa in Miami to paragliding in the Florida Keys.

Alison’s youthful looks would have you fooled that she’s a decade younger, but she turns 50 this week – on 5 February, the same day Aidan turns 20. And she doesn’t seem fazed about the milestone. “It just feels like another year,” she tells us breezily. There’s no big celeb party planned, either, as she tells OK!. “I had the big bash when I turned 48 – and Aidan turned 18 – and it was wonderful. But it took a lot of preparation. I’m not in the mood this year! I just want to chill out."

"What’s incredible is how quickly the time goes. I’d urge people to enjoy their lives, spend time with loved ones and be present. Nowadays, I only want to do what makes me happy.” Equally, when Alison speaks about her son, she can’t believe how time has flown. The little man that used to toddle into This Morning for the occasional fashion segment is now a budding DJ who towers over her. But the pride in her voice is palpable.

“I’ve been with this person all his life,” she tells us, with that distinctive Brummie lilt. “It’s just lovely that he’s turned out to be a well-rounded, kind, young man. I’m so proud.” For Aidan, it’s his mum’s attitude to life that’s struck a chord most. He explains, “‘Be happy,’ she says. ‘If you’re not, what’s the point?’ I was in a very good job, but wasn’t happy. I told Mum what I really wanted was to DJ and she said, ‘Do that, then.’”

And bubbly Alison admits that Aidan has taught her to slow down. “You don’t have to go 100 miles an hour. You can take things slower, which is what my son does. He’s patient, slow to anger. I don’t allow people to put me in a space of anger or sadness – I learnt that purely from Aidan.”

Now that he’s making waves on the music scene, has Alison given Aidan any tips about navigating the world of showbiz? She must be a pro at this stage. “Just be authentically true to yourself,” she says. “People are going to see through you if you’re not. And if you don’t know something – be honest! People will respect that more than you faking it.” Of Aidan’s DJ career, she says, “I feel like a groupie. I’m such an embarrassing fan. I’d go to every gig he does, personally, but I have to play it cool and let him do his thing.”

Asked if their special bond is, in part, due to Alison raising Aidan alone, she points out that, for a long time, it was three of them, before her beloved mother Maria died in 2020, of lung and liver cancer. It was Maria – a “hard-working, no-nonsense travel agent” – who took Alison to Florida as a child, that proved the inspiration behind her and Aidan’s first TV show together. “It was always the three of us. We’ve been through the heartache of losing mum together, and that was tough. There have been ups and downs and Aidan’s seen them all. We’ll always have that bond.”

The mother-son duo filmed their new travelogue – about doing Florida on a budget – last summer and, as Alison admits, it was wonderful to touch base with her son and mix work and play in the sunshine state. This is the first time we’ve seen Aidan on the small screen like this, and he admits he found it “harder than he expected” but would do it again in a heartbeat. His mum, on the other hand, says he was such a natural that she’s “scared for her own job”.

“The producers were like, ‘Alison, he’s good!’ I was like, ‘Alright, babs, calm down…’” The protective mum gene came out, too. “You go into mother mode no matter what, don’t you? I’m very protective when it comes to Aidan. I’m a little lioness. If he wants to do more telly… it’s whatever makes him happy. I know he wants to be a DJ – but if he wanted to be a cleaner, I’d support him 100%. Happiness is the key in everything.”

Aidan’s favourite part of their road trip, he says, was the Everglades. “Being on an airboat on these flat lands, where you can see for miles – and seeing alligators pop up at night… It was so peaceful. I didn’t even think I was going to like it, but I loved it.” “Aidan’s a techy boy – he likes his phone and his games,” Alison adds. “With that taken away, it was just us, in the middle of nature. It was actually a really special, bonding time.”

The only moments of tension, both agree, were in the car. Alison did all the driving as Aidan isn’t yet legally allowed to drive in the US. “Aidan is a driver, and so thinks he knows best when it comes to driving and tries to take over,” says Alison. “The truth is he needs to listen to mum sometimes!”

These two clearly love to laugh – was it like this on the road, too? “Oh, yes, Aidan’s the one person who makes me full-on belly laugh,” says Alison. “He can have me doubled over, crippled. If I’m in a bad mood, he’s the only person who can take me out of it instantly.” “Laughter’s been a part of our whole life,” Aidan adds. “We just take the mick out of each other constantly. We always try to make the other one laugh, especially if we’re in a group. It’s just our thing.”

On a serious note, Alison believes laughter serves a higher purpose. “A day is wasted without it. Laughter is a beautiful medicine. I get letters from people all the time, saying, ‘You took me out of a really dark place.’ If something I’ve said or done has taken a person out of darkness, that’s so important to me.”

Alison is a ray of sunshine on This Morning, which she presents with Dermot O’Leary on a Friday. So, why does she love it so much? “My co-hosts, people like Dermot and Josie [Gibson], keep it real – I connect with real people,” she says. “I love them all. I keep coming back for them, but also because no two days are the same. I don’t think I’d ever want to leave.”

The highlights are many, such as having her baby scan 20 years ago live on-air. “I was pregnant, did my scan on This Morning and found out that Aidan was a boy!” Her interviews with Hollywood A-listers are now the stuff of legend – but she still gets “very nervous” when sitting down with a big name. “They’re all humans, though, they all make mistakes – that’s what you need to remember,” she adds. As for who she has in her sights, she’d “love a one-on-one with Oprah Winfrey. Or Michelle Obama”.

Right now, what Alison, who’s dating David Putman – 22 years her junior – wants more than anything is to put her feet up. “R-E-S-T. I want to rest more, and have more holidays this year. I’ve achieved everything I wanted to, really – maybe hosting Comic Relief one day would be good… But honestly? I’m happy with where I am in life.”

Florida Unpacked continues Mondays, at 6.30pm on BBC Two

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