Alison Hammond returns to This Morning after on-air panic attack

Summarised from 4 outlets · 5 reports · Updated 9 Oct, 12:19 · Archive

Alison Hammond returned to This Morning a week after rushing off air during a panic attack she initially feared was a heart attack.

Alison Hammond returned to This Morning on Friday, one week after she rushed off the ITV programme live on air. The presenter had been clutching her chest and struggling to breathe during the broadcast, and was taken to hospital for tests after fearing she was having a heart attack. Doctors determined she had suffered a panic attack.

Hammond opened Friday's show alongside co-host Dermot O'Leary by thanking him for 'holding the fort' in her absence and thanking viewers who sent good wishes. She described the moment she left the show as 'probably one of the scariest things I've ever been through' and compared the experience to the television series Stranger Things, saying it felt like entering 'the Upside Down world'.

She explained that she could not catch her breath and 'genuinely thought I was having a heart attack'. The panic attack came on suddenly, she said: 'It just was like a wave, something which I've now found out is adrenaline. That came into my body.' She ran off camera because she thought her son might be watching the live broadcast.

Hammond said it was the first time she had experienced anything like it. She added that she felt 'guilty' she had not actually had a heart condition, because 'it was so much of a fuss'. She expressed gratitude at being back on air and said the experience had given her a new perspective on life.

How it is being reported

• Alison Hammond returns to This Morning one week after ‘scary’ on-air health scareThe presenter was forced to leave the set after experiencing heart palpitations live on airEvening Standard · 9 Oct, 13:38
• Alison Hammond: I thought I was having a heart attack on live TVThe TV presenter, 51, was accompanied off the This Morning set last week by her colleague Dermot O’Leary while appearing to clutch her chest.Evening Standard · 9 Oct, 13:31
• Alison Hammond Makes Joyful Return To This Morning A Week After On-Air Panic AttackAlison Hammond made a triumphant return to This Morning on Friday, a week after unknowingly suffering a panic attack live on air that forced her to walk off the set mid-broadcast. Earlier this month, Alison was presenting live on This Morning when she was seen abruptly leaving the set, panting and clutching her chest . She later shared that she was undergoing tests after fearing at the time she was suffering a heart attack , which turned out to be a panic attack. At the beginning of Friday’s edition of This Morning, Alison triumphantly began the live show by declaring: “I’m back!” Dermot…HuffPost UK · 9 Oct, 12:06
• Alison Hammond: 'I thought I was having heart attack on air'The host says a health scare was "probably one of the most scariest things I've ever been through".BBC News · 9 Oct, 11:52
• Alison Hammond returns to This Morning and says: ‘I feel guilty I didn’t have a heart condition’The star was joined by co-host Dermot O'Leary.Metro · 9 Oct, 10:23

In this story: Alison Hammond · Dermot O'Leary · This Morning · ITV

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