Police probe blackmail plot against Bake Off host Alison

NEW Bake Off presenter Alison Hammond is at the centre of an alleged blackmail plot following claims that a male former friend threatened to release false details about her private life.

West Midlands Police confirmed yesterday that inquiries were ‘progressing swiftly’ after Ms Hammond, 48, approached them last Tuesday and showed them threatening messages she had received.

The This Morning host’s eightmonth ordeal is thought to have come to a head when the man vowed to ‘ruin’ her unless she gave him £3,500. Earlier, she apparently handed over a £5,000 BMW after he said he’d use the bogus information to ‘end her career’.

The Sun newspaper reported how Ms Hammond told a friend: ‘I trusted this guy who, it turns out, was only interested in my money.

‘I thought he valued our friendship. I now know he only wanted me to fund his life of luxury. I was flabbergasted. I’m still in shock. To have a friend seeking to blackmail and extort me is just heartbreaking.

‘I had to realise I’d reached the end and go to the police.’

It is claimed the man took advantage of Ms Hammond’s kind nature and, even though he had issues with drugs, they forged a friendship.

She reportedly added that the demands on her came out of the blue after she had tried to help the man. According to the report, Ms Hammond attempted to cut ties with him several times, but he made his way back into her life.

She is said to be ‘genuinely scared’ of any retaliation from him now that she has stopped giving him money and has gone to the police.

The star, who lives in Birmingham with her teenage son, found fame in the reality TV series Big Brother in 2002. In 2021, she became This Morning’s Friday host with Dermot O’Leary, and last week she was named as Matt Lucas’s replacement on The Great British Bake Off.