WE WARM UP WITH A BOOGIE
Dermot and Alison’s on-screen chemistry may have something to do with the fact that they love a dance before presenting the show. ‘On the way in to the studio I work out what song I’m going to walk into the make-up room with,’ says Dermot, who showed off some nifty moves when he was presenting The X Factor. ‘I lose sleep over that music. I go to bed thinking,
“What on earth am I going to play tomorrow?”’
Alison lets out a roar of laughter. ‘So many times he gets the wrong tune and he just ruins the atmosphere,’ she chuckles. ‘But seriously, he’s a good dancer. He’s already got the moves so my dream would be to get him on Strictly. I film him dancing and post it on my TikTok. That said, he likes to have at least ten minutes alone, when I’m not allowed to go into his dressing room. He puts a little handkerchief on the door and says, “Do not come in for ten minutes.” He likes to go through his notes. I think he’s naked, and I just know I’m not going in there.’
‘Correct,’ deadpans Dermot. ‘I like to go through my notes naked in my room. It’s all time management,’ he says. ‘I don’t know how Alison does all that stuff on TikTok in the time it takes me to go through my script and get my clothes on.’
full of books and laughter. There were ceilis in the front room, Irish fairy tales at bedtime and Mass every Sunday. ‘We grew up in a very Irish household, full of love and empathy. My parents are my big inspirations. Dad would get up at 5am to do an hour’s study so he could then be with us for breakfast and see us before we left for school,’ he recalls fondly.
In a similar way to his dad, Dermot has worked his way up. He started as a runner on BBC Radio Essex in the mid-90s then made a move into TV, working on shows such as Channel 4’s Light Lunch and Big Brother’s Little Brother before hosting The X Factor on ITV. The first book in his Toto The Ninja Cat series for children was published in 2017, after his wellreceived memoir The Soundtrack To My Life.
Another of their shared passions is food. ‘I just love it,’ says Alison, who appeared on Celebrity MasterChef in 2014. ‘We get to cook at the end of each show, and I love eating every last bit of it with Dermot. All the studio lights go off and they take our microphones off and we have a little catch-up while we’re eating.’
But it was the excruciating moment when her chair collapsed while interviewing one of her idols, Matt Damon, in 2007 as he promoted his blockbuster movie The Bourne Ultimatum that pushed her to make a major change regarding her weight. ‘Me and Matt had a little sit-down interview, and as you can see I’m quite a rotund lady,’ she says. ‘As I sat down I thought, “This chair’s a bit tight.” About three minutes into the interview the arm on the righthand side just went “Ping!” and flew off. I said to Matt, “Carry on, what were you saying…” He was laughing and was very kind about it but it wasn’t the best of days. I had to style it out, otherwise I’d have cried.’
Alison then took the major decision to have a gastric band fitted. ‘I feel it didn’t really work very well, but the truth is it did. I just wasn’t ready because I had to eat salad. So after about three years I asked the surgeon to take it out. I was over the moon when I got rid of it. I did put on a bit of weight, but I just think I’m a big girl. I love life and I love food.’
Alison and Dermot host This Morning Monday to Friday this week and subsequent Fridays, from 10am.