
ITV This Morning star 'taking a year off' after being left 'exhausted'
This Morning presenter Alison Hammond spoke to Alexandra Burke and Lesley Joseph about the impact of performing live as the two stage stars head on tour.
On a recent instalment of This Morning, ITV's well-loved Alison Hammond shared that she'll be taking a breather from her hectic career schedule.
In conversation with Alexandra Burke and Lesley Joseph about their upcoming musical tour, The Addams Family, the famed presenter shed light on the demanding nature of live performances.
As Alexandra gave insight into the intense routine of touring, where performers can take on up to a dozen shows a week, she said: "You don't really get a life outside of it, but that's ok because you're entertaining other people."
Lesley, turning towards Alison, commented: "We're looking at the panto Queen! Birmingham. Three panto Queens sitting on the sofa."
Alison admitted: "But the thing is, you've been doing it year after year. I'm having a year off because I was so exhausted from last year and the year before. It is a discipline."
The theatre enthusiast Lesley Joseph emphasised her adoration for pantomime, underlining the unique family atmosphere it creates, reports Wales Online.
She said: "The whole family comes and it's the one time in the year that anybody, grandma down to the youngest children can come and really love it. You know, you've done it now."
Echoing Lesley's sentiments, Alison then discussed how cast members bond like a true family through the numerous hours spent together.
Previously, audiences were captivated as Alison dazzled as the Magical Mermaid in Birmingham's Hippodrome Theatre's Peter Pan pantomime, even sharing behind-the-scenes moments with This Morning viewers before hitting the stage.
At the time Alison wore her stage costume and shared her most cherished aspect of being in the play. She revealed: "Do you remember last year when lovely Dermot (O'Leary) and the whole team brought me a wonderful chair with the plaque of my mum's name on it?
"It's dead centre in the middle of the stage and literally, it's like I'm performing to my mum. It means the world to me, it's beautiful. It's lovely to be back.
"I look at the person (in the seat, the person thinks I'm looking at them, I'm not! I'm seeing my mum!".
The TV favourite lost her mum Maria in January 2020 to lung and liver cancer, and just months later, she faced the heartbreak of her father Clifford's also dying.
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Wales Online
an hour ago
- Wales Online
I'm a huge Oasis fan and this is the setlist I want to hear and it's missing one massive tune
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info A certain Manchester band is making something of a comeback this week - the first time they will have performed on stage together in 16 years. As if you didn't know.... Oasis shocked music fans all over the world last August when they announced a reunion tour which was expected to generate quite a large demand for tickets. The exact level of that demand cannot have been predicted by anyone, however, perhaps not even the Gallagher brothers themselves. Fans across the UK and indeed the globe seemed to spend the whole of August 30 (pre-sale) and August 31 last year glued to their phones or stuck to their desks as an unprecedented quest for concert tickets in Cardiff, Manchester, London, Edinburgh and Dublin got underway. The band also announced further dates in cities across the world. From superstar gigs to cosy pubs, find out What's On in Wales by signing up to our newsletter here, reports Wales Online. Fans both elated at getting tickets and devastated at missing out got on with their lives as Oasis Live '25 seemed like an age away. Well not anymore, it's now just around the corner and the biggest and most anticipated comeback in rock or pop history (sorry ABBA fans, the band has to actually be at the concerts for it to count) will kick-off at Cardiff's Principality Stadium on July 4 and 5. I've been an Oasis fan since I overheard (What's the Story) Morning Glory? making its way from my sister's bedroom in 1995. For the 12-year-old me, all of a sudden Michael Jackson and Wet Wet Wet cassettes were abandoned to the back of the cupboard and I had a new hobby. After wearing out the 'Morning Glory' tape by constantly rewinding tracks three and four, a pocket-money frugal teenage me then bought Definitely Maybe on CD (fancy!). I was hooked. Be Here Now followed in 1997, and although things were never quite the same after that, those first three or four years of being obsessed with indie music and guitars are etched within my soul forever. Now, thirty years after first hearing those distorted tones across the landing, Oasis are back, and attention turns to exactly what songs the band are actually going to sing during their upcoming epic tour. It's important to stress at this point that as music is probably the most subjective of all the arts, everyone is entitled to their opinion, including me (yes, I'm talking to you in the comments section/on Facebook). (Image: PA) As all Oasis fans will agree, the band simply have too many good and popular songs for it to be possible for them to please everyone, and they can't sing non-stop for three hours each night. With that in mind I've whittled things down to 21 songs (they played 22 the last time they were at the Principality - then Millennium - Stadium in 2009). 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As for other considerations, the opening track is going to be a big deal for fans paying hundreds of pounds (some even more that!) to see their favourite '90s band. Again, without wishing to be a contrarian, I do not want to hear Rock 'n' Roll Star as the opener in Cardiff. Why? It's undoubtedly a great song, but I've seen Oasis several times over the years and they more often than not opened with Rock 'n' Roll Star, including when they last played in Cardiff back in 2009. I've also seen Liam Gallagher performing solo in recent years and he always tends to start with it. It's a fine song, and undeniably deserves its spot in the setlist, but Oasis have a plethora of fast-paced 'bangers' capable of making the crowd go mad for it from the off in a vast stadium: Morning Glory, Cigarettes & Alcohol, Shock of the Lightning, Hello....... The latter would make lyrical sense as it contains the words 'it's good to be back'. However, given that disgraced former rock star and paedophile Gary Glitter has a writing credit on it because the song borrowed that phrase and a section of melody from his 1973 hit Hello Hello I'm Back Again, it's probably best to leave that particular Oasis song in 1995, although Liam did hint in a post on X earlier this year that Hello would be played. We shall see...... The first song of the 2000 album Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, F***** in the Bushes, has to be the walk-on music in my opinion. It's iconic, short, sharp, and whips everyone into a frenzy because it's become symbolic of who is about to walk out on stage. Elsewhere, it's important for me to make sure that different eras and albums are at least partly represented, otherwise Liam, Noel, 'Bonehead' and the rest might as well play Definitely Maybe and (What's the Story) Morning Glory? back-to-back and then exit stage right. Oasis competition Win tickets to see Oasis at Wembley Having said that, I'm not holding out much hope for live performances of any songs from 1997's Be Here Now, even though it's probably (maybe) my favourite Oasis album. That opinion - shared by nobody else on earth it seems - may well have its roots in nostalgia rather than quality songwriting and production values, but it would be nice to hear something from a record that, despite Noel publicly dismissing it several times, was ultimately the biggest selling UK album of 1997, one which shifted more than eight million copies all around the world. There are a couple of other notable exceptions: I love Up in the Sky but I'm not sure Liam can reach those high notes like it's 1994, especially with a busy summer ahead, and Whatever, with its brilliance largely stemming from a string section Oasis are unlikely to deploy in a stadium containing around 80,000 people. Anyway, here is my dream setlist of 21 songs for Oasis's comeback concerts at Cardiff's Principality Stadium on July 4 and 5. Bring it on (down)...... (Walk on) F***** in the Bushes 1. Morning Glory 2. Some Might Say 3. Lyla 4. Acquiesce 5. Cigarettes and Alcohol 6. Stand By Me 7. Stop Crying Your Heart Out 8. Wonderwall (Noel Gallagher vocal section) 9. Don't Look Back in Anger 10. Masterplan 11. Half the World Away 12. The Importance of Being Idle (Liam Gallagher returns) 13. D'You Know What I Mean? 14. My Big Mouth 15. Roll It Over 16. Slide Away 17. Champagne Supernova (Encore) 18. Shock of the Lightning 19. Stay Young 20. Live Forever 21. Rock 'n' Roll Star With now less than a month to go, you can find all the details about the Principality Stadium gigs here. For all the latest information about tickets, including resale sites, click here.


Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
This week's must-watch TV: Wimbledon, property glow-ups and Fern Britton
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South Wales Argus
2 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
Former Emmerdale star Adam Thomas teases soap return
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