Alison Hammond 'devastated' as This Morning boss announces exit

Alison Hammond, a presenter on This Morning, has expressed her deep sadness over the departure of a colleague from the show. Martin Frizell, the show's editor, announced on Wednesday that he will be stepping down from his role after a decade.

Martin, 65, joined ITV in 2014 as Editor of Loose Women before moving to This Morning, which he plans to leave in Spring 2025. Alison said: "I've worked with Martin for 10 years.

"I'll be honest with you I'm absolutely devastated. He's been a real rock for the show. But it's totally understandable why he's leaving. You all know about his wife (Fiona Phillip's). We get why he's leaving, it's very amicable. He doesn't want to leave but he has to for family reasons. We all understand that."

Speaking on Chris Evans' Virgin Radio show, Alison continued: "He's the one who got me back on TV. He said 'Alison's really good why don't we use her'. So if it wasn't for him you wouldn't see Alison Hammond so we owe him a lot, we owe him Alison Hammond. He is the man who got me back on TV, because there was a time that I wasn't, in about 2007."

"I started on This Morning and they weren't using me then Martin came on board and he was like 'why are we not using Alison Hammond'. He was the guy who made me the girl. So I'm really thankful to him. He's a wonderful man. He'll be sadly missed. We are all talking about it. Everyone is gutted, we all received an email yesterday. I've sent him a little message. He's upset. It's an emotional situation. He is very emotional.", reports the Mirror.

Martin is stepping down from his role, and he said: "Next year I'm expecting my family priorities to change so I need to free up time for them. I love my team at ITV and will miss them and the thrill of live telly but it's an always on, 24 hours a day, seven days a week commitment and I won't be able to do both."

He also shared: "It's been a privilege to lead truly great presenters and producers, between us we've turned out more than six thousand hours of live topical telly, that's around 20,000 items and whilst the gongs are always nice. I'm most proud of the change we made to so many lives, even saving a fair few with our campaigns on anti suicide, menopause, testicular cancer and 'how - to' items."

"This juggernaut is the toughest test for any broadcast journalist."

Martin's wife, former GM:TV host Fiona Phillips, was open about her Alzheimer's diagnosis at 62 last year. Meanwhile, This Morning has seen ratings fall amidst various controversies.

Phillip Schofield, a key face of the show, left last year after acknowledging an 'unwise but not illegal' affair with a younger colleague. There have also been reports of backstage tension, with claims that Phillip refused to allow Holly Willoughby to host This Morning by herself on International Women's Day.

Following Phil's departure, allegations of a 'toxic workplace' surfaced regarding the daytime show. However, an external review conducted in December last year found no evidence of such a culture on This Morning.

Shortly after Phillip's exit, Holly also announced her departure. This year, Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard stepped in as the main hosts, with Alison and Dermot O'Leary presenting the Friday show.