Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary had to overcome hurdles at the start of their This Morning journey (Picture: ITV)
Although Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary have fast become fan favourite This Morning presenters, they were really thrown into the deep end when they first started.
The pair were introduced to the ITV daytime as a new hosting duo in 2020, replacing Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford.
But Alison and Dermot didn’t have a rehearsal before making their live debut, nor did they have a read-through of a script. In fact, they didn’t even come to face to face until the big day.
The pair recalled their chaotic inauguration on the special Christmas edition of Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett OBE’s weekly podcast Dish.
‘You didn’t meet me, we didn’t have a lunch, we didn’t have a room read of a script,’ Dermot remembered. ‘I mean, This Morning you don’t do that, you literally get the script in your brief pack the night before.’
The presenters have been delighting viewers since 2020 (Picture: Rex)
‘There’s no rehearsal,’ Alison agreed.
While Dermot admitted that they did do their homework before and they were able to run through their intro, the rest was learned on the job.
‘You think how long it takes people to get to know each other on television, have some sort of chemistry, know each other, know each other’s beats and nuances, know not to irritate each other, not to talk over each other,’ he continued.
Dermot and Alison were thrown into the deep end on their first day at This Morning (Picture: ITV)
‘We had none of that. It was literally, you’re on air now. And it was a huge baptism of fire for both of us. We even got our Zoom wrong to start with.’
Neither Dermot or Alison had co-hosted before landing their This Morning job.
‘Most of the stuff that we normally do, like Dermot normally works on his own, I normally work on my own,’ Alison shared.
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‘As soon as you get over a few- those early hurdles and hookups and those things that kind of make you and define you and you know you’re there for each other and you know you trust each other,’ Dermot added.
‘Then you can start to build the relationship.’
This Morning airs weekdays at 10am on ITV.
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It wasn’t the easiest ride.
