For years, Alison Hammond’s infectious laugh filled living rooms across Britain — but behind the scenes, she was quietly fighting a battle that would redefine her life.
Now her personal trainer has finally lifted the curtain on the emotional five-year transformation that saw the This Morning favourite lose an astonishing 11 stone after a terrifying health wake-up call.
The Moment That Changed It All
The turning point came when Alison, now 50, discovered she was pre-diabetic — news she later described as frightening enough to force her to grow up overnight.
Her trainer, Ellis Gatfield, has shared a moving Instagram montage showing Alison’s journey from her very first painful sessions — using resistance bands just to stand up from a chair — to confident weight training and cycling through her local streets.
“You Never Looked Down on Me”
Reposting the clip, Alison poured out her gratitude:
“Massive thank you to the incredible @ellisgatfield who started my whole fitness journey.
You never looked down on me and this I will always be grateful for… you have made my life so much easier by simple changes and kindness I will never forget.”
The pair can be seen laughing, struggling, pushing and celebrating together — a relationship built on patience rather than pressure.
Over the last five years, Alison has shed the weight through training, moderation and consistency, not injections.
She has openly rejected weight-loss jabs, saying scare stories left her frightened, and instead chose to rely on:
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Seeing her trainer twice a week
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Walking when work gets in the way
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Keeping weights in her bedroom
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Stretching and yoga at home
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Eating everything — just in moderation
Even on Bake Off, she has rules.
“I only try the cakes that get a handshake from Paul,” she laughed. “If the judges aren’t impressed, I’m not eating it.”
The Heartbreak Behind the Motivation
The determination runs deeper than numbers on a scale.
Alison’s mum, Maria, died in 2020 after living with type-2 diabetes and cancer. It was her mother’s worry that stayed with her.
“When I found out I was pre-diabetic, I thought: I have to be an adult about this.
The sweets had to stop. The fatty foods had to go.”
At her heaviest, Alison weighed 28 stone.
Today, she is lighter — not just in body, but in spirit.
This wasn’t a crash diet.
It wasn’t a viral trend.
It was five years of showing up — even when it hurt — and discovering that sometimes, the quietest journeys are the ones that change everything.
