Alison Hammond has revealed she is named after Muhammad Ali.
The TV presenter, 51, spoke on The Jonathan Ross Show about the intriguing fact, as she revealed her father Clifford was a bodyguard to the boxing legend, who passed away in 2016 at the age of 74 after battling Parkinson’s disease.
Leaving jaws on the floor, Alison, whose father died in 2020, told Jonathan: ‘Friends and family will call me Ali – Muhammad Ali. My dad named me and I’ve got a sister in Jamaica called Alicia and then I’ve got a brother called Ali.
‘The three of us are named after Muhammad Ali, because my dad was his bodyguard – he absolutely loved him. Whenever Muhammad Ali would come to Birmingham, my dad would be called out to go and look after Muhammad Ali.’
She previously revealed that she met the boxer, saying: ‘You know, I’ve met him. But it was at an age where I didn’t want to meet him. You know like when your mum drags you out. I didn’t know who he was! I was like, pulling away from him…
Alison Hammond has revealed she is named after Muhammad Ali
The TV presenter, 51, spoke on The Jonathan Ross Show about the intriguing fact, as she revealed her father Clifford was a bodyguard to the boxing legend (pictured in 1962), who passed away in 2016 at the age of 74 after battling Parkinson’s disease
‘I got photos of me going, who’s this weirdo?’
Alison has previously shed light onto her relationship with Clifford, who imported trucks between the UK and the Caribbean.
Her mother Maria did not find out he had a family until she was pregnant with Alison and ultimately brought the TV star up alone.
In her book You’ve Got To Laugh, Alison said he ‘definitely had the lifestyle’ and was treated like a ‘king’ in his native Jamaica, with his powerful presence leaving residents ‘uneasy’.
She said: ‘You could tell by the way people spoke about him that he was respected and feared in the community.
‘They called him Mr Hammond and you could see the unease in their eyes when they spoke to him. I’m not surprised, either, because he drove everywhere with a massive shotgun tucked under his pick-up truck. He didn’t mess around.’
Alison has previously shed light onto her relationship with Clifford, who imported trucks between the UK and the Caribbean
When Clifford passed away in June 2020 after a cancer battle, she shared a picture with her Instagram followers alongside the caption: ‘This is my real Dad Clifford Hammond who passed away last week in Jamaica…
‘I’m saddened that I won’t be able to make his funeral and saddened that he wasn’t part of my life as much as I would have liked but I still have a sense of loss and emptiness. Sleep well Daddy, love leaves a memory no one can steal. RIP.’
Maria died just five months before Clifford after battling liver and lung cancer.
On Jonathan Ross, she also touched on rumours she was set to star on the upcoming series of Celebrity Traitors.
Quashing the rumours, she said: ‘I can’t do it, because I’m doing Bake Off..
‘I think it’s the same time when I’m doing Bake Off, so that’s a definite no. I’m so sorry, I would love to do that. I wouldn’t want to be a Traitor though, I’d want to be a Faithful. I don’t want no stress.’
