ITV For the Love of Dogs viewers DIVIDED as Alison Hammond makes DEBUT amid backlash
Alison Hammond has filled the void left by the late Paul O’Grady in For the Love of Dogs and received a wave of backlash – and a string of supportive comments.
ITV viewers were torn as the This Morning star, 49, took her presenting duties sporting her well-known smile on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, more than a year after the beloved host’s death with many taking over to X, formerly known as Twitter to share their heated frustrations.
One TV watcher couldn’t help but compare to the former presenter as they furiously penned: “Alison Hammond on ‘For the Love of Dogs’ is as Dull as Dishwater. Paul O’Grady she is not.” Another jumped in: “Why has Alison Hammond been given the job ‘for the love of Dogs’ ? She doesn’t own a dog never has.”
Alison Hammond has filled in the void left in For the Love of Dogs after Paul O’Grady’s death
A third viewer added: “Well that’s me not watching ‘for the love of dogs’ anymore. @ITV Is Alison Hammond the new Ant & Dec because she’s there every time you switch on lately!”
However, among the many watchers of her first of many instalments of For the Love of Dogs, a group of satisfied social media users congratulated Alison on her debut. “Alison Hammond doing a great job on For the love of Dogs. The dogs stealing the show as they always do”, one wrote on X.
Another chimed in: “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.”
The mum-of-one has been the target of harsh criticism ever since she was announced to be taking over Paul O’Grady in the program supporting pooches in need of love. But she has already fired back during a recent chat with The Sun. “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?'”, she said. “It’s like saying: ‘How can you love children when you haven’t got kids?'”
She then argued: “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.'” Before concluding: “Trolls will be trolls and I’ll still do what I do best, which is TV presenting and you’ll see for yourself, I think it’s authentic and I loved doing it.”
