A dog rescuer interviewed by Alison Hammond for a This Morning segment claims the star was “scared” of her pack of disabled hounds.

Claire-Louise Nixon, founder of Wheels to Paws UK, was visited by the 49-year-old at her Milton Keynes home in 2019, where she met 27 disabled dogs she had adopted from across the world.

The dogs, all named after celebrities including Elton John, Rylan, Rita Ora and David Bowie, had varying levels of disability, from full paralysis and incontinence, being a ‘tri-paw’ (missing a limb), and needing a dog wheelchair to get around.

In the clip, which aired when Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford were fronting the show, Alison seems happy and at ease with the dogs, even gently stroking one called Elvis.

But according to Claire-Louise, off camera, Alison was afraid of the dogs, and told her that she had only agreed to come and interview her because she had bills to pay. Claire-Louise also claimed that the segment was filmed outside at Alison’s request.

Alison Hammond meets one of the residents of Battersea Dog’s Home
Speaking to The Sun, Claire-Louise explained: “I did ask her, ‘Why did you do this interview if you are scared of dogs?’. “She replied, ‘I’ve got to pay my mortgage’.”

Claire-Louise’s claims come amid backlash from For The Love Of Dogs viewers who do not think that Alison is a suitable replacement for the late Paul O’Grady on the show after his death in March 2023. Many have questioned the former Big Brother contestant’s appointment, mainly due to the fact Alison doesn’t own a dog herself.

Speaking to The Sun about the backlash, Alison admitted she understood some of the criticism as she said: “I could understand in the sense that Paul was so loved, and people were saying: ‘How can she do Love Of Dogs when she doesn’t have a dog? How does she love dogs when she doesn’t have a dog? ‘”.

Alison met the disabled dogs in 2019, five years before being named presenter of For The Love Of Dogs ( 
Image:
ITV)
She went on to say: “It’s like saying: ‘How can you love children when you haven’t got kids? ‘ It’s such a flawed argument for me, and all I would say is: ‘If you don’t want to watch it, don’t watch it.’ That’s what I would say to those trolls: ‘Don’t watch it then. If you don’t want to help Battersea, don’t watch it’.”

Alison’s fear of dogs is well documented, with her revealing that it stems from seeing a lad attacked during her childhood. She wrote in her 2021 autobiography, You’ve Got To Laugh, “The dog took a massive chunk out of his leg and blood poured everywhere.

“I had to help him hobble back to his mum, screaming in pain. For weeks afterwards, the kids on our street never stopped talking about savage dogs and gushing wounds.”

Reps for Alison Hammond have been approached for comment.

Despite some critics questioning her appointment, Alison’s role in stepping into Paul O’Grady’s shoes has been praised by viewers.

Following her debut, one posted to social media: “Alison Hammond doing a great job on For the love of Dogs. The dogs stealing the show as they always do.”

Another chimed in to defend the This Morning star amid some trolling. “Christ there are a nasty bunch of pointless people on here. I thought Alison Hammond was lovely on For the Love of Dogs.” One final watcher then put things into perspective: “People who are saying Alison Hammond is doing a bad job because ‘Paul O Grady would have adopted every dog’ are completely missing the whole point of For The Love Of Dogs. The main message of the show is that owning a dog is a big responsibility.”

A spokesperson from This Morning said: “The decision to film outside was made by the production team entirely independently of Alison purely on the basis that it was a more appropriate fit for the item and the show and any suggestion otherwise is inaccurate.”