Alison Hammond hits back after For The Love of Dogs viewers slammed her over ‘strange trait’
ALISON Hammond has hit back after being slammed over her ‘strange trait’ by For The Love of Dogs viewers.
Presenter Alison, 49, has received much backlash from cruel fans of the ITV programme after taking over from the late Paul O’Grady.
Several complained that the series has lost its warmth as Alison isn’t a dog lover and doesn’t have any furry friends of her own.
By contrast, Paul had three dogs, and two of them were rescued from the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home where the show is filmed.
So, when the latest episode aired last night, the telly host liked some of the positive messages sent her way on X, formerly Twitter.
One had written: “Loving #fortheloveofdogs these dogs love you Alison, they come right to you, that’s one thing about dogs, they recognise nice people instantly.”
Another added: “Still loving @AlisonHammond on #ForTheLoveOfDogs my dream job. Thanks for another beautiful episode @Battersea_.”
Someone else chimed in with: “Alison your so brilliant and your work at battersea is inspiring me.
“Well done for smashing it Paul’s looking down on you from heaven and expressing his thumbs up greatly appreciating the fantastic job your the dogs best friend and I hope you ready for more series at battersea.”
A fourth agreed: “Loving this new series. @AlisonHammond
you are fabulous presenting this. Your love of dogs is clear.”
One more concluded: “Alison, you are pure joy. Thanks so much for being on the tellybox and giving us a blast of rainbow in a tough world. x.”
Fans of the show picked up on her hesitation to interact with the fluffballs yesterday, with one hitting out: “I like Alison but there’s no way she should be on for the love of dogs, reading off a script, scared to even stroke the dogs!
“Gone from being a loving program to something I can’t even watch any more!”
Another chimed in: “Alison Hammond frighten to touch the dogs sorry cannot watch it switched off.”
A third complained: “Alison is totally not suited. Hardly touches dogs. She has no intention of breaking one of those ridiculous nails.”
The show host from This Morning has been accused of only taking the role for the paycheck.
However, Alison has rejected the claims, defending her new presenting role.
The mum-of-one told our TV Mag: “I was actually surprised with how much I got for doing the show.”
Alison Hammond - For The Love Of Dogs
Comment by Lucy Murgatroyd, Showbiz reporter for The Sun Online.
Alison Hammond has received a fair bit of criticism since taking over the For Love Of Dogs presenting role from the late Paul O’Grady. Just minutes into the first episode, viewers slammed the host for being ‘scripted’.
Others weren’t impressed when it was first announced because Alison doesn’t own any animals – unlike Paul, who owned three pooches himself. Despite that, some have since had a change of heart.
Alison has big shoes to fill following on from Paul, who presented the show from 2012 to 2023. It’s not fair to compare them as she clearly does loves dogs and you don’t have to own one to be a dog lover.
She has proven herself as a broadcaster on all of her shows and she can handle live TV like a professional, so doesn’t deserve the backlash.
“I could understand in the sense that Paul was so loved, and people were saying: ‘How can she do Love Of Dogs when she doesn’t have a dog? How does she love dogs when she doesn’t have a dog?’ It’s like saying: ‘How can you love children when you haven’t got kids?’
“It’s such a flawed argument for me, and all I would say is: ‘If you don’t want to watch it, don’t watch it.’ That’s what I would say to those trolls: ‘Don’t watch it then. If you don’t want to help Battersea, don’t watch it’.
“Trolls will be trolls and I’ll still do what I do best, which is TV presenting and you’ll see for yourself, I think it’s authentic and I loved doing it.
“Trolls are trolls, it says more about them than it does me, really. I would never troll anybody, even if I thought it, I wouldn’t go online and put it down.”
