IF This Morning bosses were thinking about giving Alison Hammond a pay rise or a promotion they’d better do it soon.
Sky have already signed her up for their new TV-based quiz show, In Demand, and are so impressed they cryptically say they now want to “keep her busy”.
Which would be a blow for ITV who very much view Alison as one of the jewels in the crown of their presenting line-up — particularly as she was nominated for last year’s NTA Best Presenter gong which is voted for by the viewing public.
Speaking at the Broadcasting Press Guild’s Sky event in London yesterday, Sky’s Managing Director of Content, Zai Bennett, said: “Rob Beckett is hosting it and you’ve got Alison as a captain.
“I think she’s a brilliant addition to Sky.
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“She has such an infectious personality.
“I went to the recording of the show and the audience just did not stop cheering for her throughout the whole thing.
“Josh Widdicombe looked quite put out.
“He’s the other team’s captain and he looked quite grumpy.”
I revealed in December how Alison had signed up for the Sky quiz after she made a pilot for a reboot of Wheel Of Fortune which ITV decided not to turn it into a full series.
Asked how Sky convinced Alison, who hosts This Morning part-time with Dermot O’Leary to come over from ITV and if they’d like to keep her, Zai replied: “She’s just looking for the natural next step in what she does and this is a nice group of people to work with and she really likes Josh and Rob.
“She’s friends with Rob and goes on holiday with him.
“I don’t think we’ve got enough to keep her busy for the whole year and we don’t really golden handcuff any of our entertainment talent, but we do keep them busy so they sort of feel ‘a bit Sky’.”
I reckon ITV execs will sort of feel a bit sick.
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Nad's so shore
STRICTLY star Nadiya Bychkova has given her army of fans a treat by giving them a glimpse of her holiday snaps.
The Ukrainian dancer posted a throwback picture from her summer jaunt to Sicily, displaying her inner Bond Girl by wearing a white bikini.
She captioned the pic: “Every day is one step closer to summer,” which boyfriend and co-star Kai Widrington responded to with a flame emoji.
The pair yesterday posted an Instagram story of themselves in the back of a car while Kai takes a break from the Strictly Live Tour.
The next leg is in Belfast where they’ll perform two nights at the SSE Arena, starting tonight.
Then Nadiya and Kai will soon be starring in their own Once Upon A Time tour which kicks off next month in Portsmouth, Hants.
Good luck to Nadiya if she attempts to recreate this shot on a freezing Southsea beach.
She might need a hat, scarf and bulky coat as well as that bikini.
'Knitting gave me needle'
THE Masked Singer’s Claire Richards has revealed her Knitting costume was so hot and heavy she had to wear ice packs in her undies.
The Steps singer was rumbled on Saturday by panellists Davina McCall and Stephen Mulhern – and most of Britain – thanks to her distinctive voice.
Claire said: “I tried to put this American country twang on in the first week but by the end of the song, I couldn’t breathe. So that went out the window.
“It was really hot.
“I just had a thin layer on underneath and ice packs, all tucked in my bra and all sorts of things.”
Production staff looked after her, especially.
She said: “My head was always the last one to go on, my little booth thing was closest to the stage.
“The floor manager would always say ‘right once everybody else is in place, then Knitting’. It was the heaviest costume this year.”
Never Prue old for love
PRUE LEITH says Bake Off fans are more obsessed with her love life than the food made on the C4 series.
The show judge, who found love in her seventies with husband John Layfair, explains: “Geriatric love is one I get asked a lot about, because I fell in love wonderfully when I was 70.
"Older women love to hear about geriatric love and I like to talk about it too.”
Speaking during her stage show tour Nothing In Moderation, she added that fans want to know if Paul Hollywood’s eye colour is genuine and that she has no idea who will replace Matt Lucas as co-host.
Sounds like a real mixed dozen.
THE BBC has announced the Death In Paradise spin-off will begin on February 24, with Kris Marshall as DI Humphrey Goodman and Sally Bretton as Martha Lloyd.
Beyond Paradise will follow the pair in Shipton Abbott, Martha’s hometown on the Devonshire coast.
