Alison Hammond returns to This Morning a week after 'scary' on air heart attack scare as she mocks Holly Willoughby's famous 'Are you OK?' speech

Alison Hammond returned to This Morning today, one week after she feared she was having a heart attack live on air, joking 'if she didn't come back to the show today, she might never return at all'.

Last week the presenter, 51, was seen clutching her chest and struggling to breathe before she promptly ran off set and was taken to hospital for tests.

However she was back on the sofa again alongside Dermot O'Leary today as she confirmed it was a panic attack, not a heart attack, and admitted it was 'the scariest thing I've ever been through'.

A teaser for This Morning aired on Lorraine minutes before as Alison took a quip at Holly Willoughby's famous 'Are you OK?' speech. 

As Lorraine welcomed the presenter back, Alison joked: 'And I'm going to tell you everything, guys. Are you OK? I hope you are.'

Holly famously asked viewers 'are you OK?' after she returned to air in June 2023 following Phillip Schofield's departure from the show after he admitted to lying about his relationship with a much younger male colleague.

Fans also noticed Alison appeared to be wearing a new health watch in addition to the Michael Kors gold watch given to her by late mum. 

Clearly returning with her sense of humour, as This Morning began Alison went on to address the audience as she began: 'Thank you, first of all, for holding the fort, and thank you to everyone who sent their good wishes. 

'All I can say is, in that moment, it was probably one of the most scariest things that I've ever been through. It was surreal.'

She continued: 'Do you know what I felt like? I felt like I went into the other world. What's that show that I love? Stranger Things. You know when you go into the upside down world? I felt like I went into the upside-down world.

'I couldn't grasp my breath, and it was a panic attack. And you know, I feel guilty that I didn't have a heart condition or anything a little bit because it was so much.'

Alison explained: 'It was the first time I've ever experienced anything like that. Secondly, it was live on TV, so I thought, oh my gosh, my son might be watching, so I just ran. I ran off TV. 

'I would never do that normally, but I just couldn't catch my breath... It just was like a wave, something which I now found out is is adrenaline. 

'I genuinely thought I was having a heart attack. I'm so glad I'm here. I feel so grateful. I feel so thankful to God, to everything in life. 

'I'm so happy that I'm here, and I'm so happy to see you. You were absolutely wonderful.' 

She added: 'If anything, it's made it's made me look at life so much differently. Yeah, you know, take stock. You know, look after my health.'

Dedicating a section of the show to raising awareness surrounding panic attacks, Alison and Dermot were joined by Dr Sian Williams as they revealed one in three people will experience a panic attack in their life. 

Dr Sian explained a panic attack is a 'rush of adrenaline, and it's a rush of cortisol, thes tress hormone'.

Praising Alison, she said: 'You normalised it. You named it. This is panic. You just sort of let people know that it's OK to have it, and you're back doing the job. 

'And that is so important because a lot of women, especially, will avoid, will pull away from things because they think, what if it happens again? And they're so scared.'

Alison then confessed: 'I'll be honest with you there, I was anxious about coming back, but I thought if I don't come back today, probably wouldn't come back.

'I don't think I'd come back because then I would have made a thing that it's This Moning that is causing the panic, but it can happen anywhere. It can happen. It comes in ebbs and flows.'

On Thursday Alison said she feels like she is in a 'vulnerable place', following the health scare. 

Her good friend, fellow Big Brother star Kate Lawler, 46, read out a speech from Alison at the Attitude Awards on Wednesday night.

Alison won The Honorary Gay award at London’s Roundhouse in front of celebrities such as Donatella Versace, Pet Shop Boys, Ian McKellen and Alesha Dixon. 

And she said: 'I've always tried to bring joy, laughter and positivity to people. 

'So suddenly being a person struggling, rather than making everyone else laugh, is a very vulnerable place to be.

'I'm learning that vulnerability is not a weakness, and that's something this community has taught me throughout with love.

Sending her apologies for not attending, she said: 'Some of you may have seen I've recently had a very public episode live on television. 

'And let's be honest, if you’re going to have a breakdown you might as well have it on ITV with loads of people watching.

'But seriously having that moment happen so publicly was incredibly difficult.'

She thanked her co-star Dermot for taking good care of her and carrying on the show without her.

Over the weekend, Alison revealed she'd returned home from hospital, and after undergoing checks on her heart, doctors told her she'd had a 'massive panic attack'.

The Great British Bake Off star said that she needs to 'learn more' about panic attacks but is now 'taking stock and resting'.

She said: 'Hi everyone, I'm just getting in touch to let you all know I'm home, I'm safe, and I'm feeling so much better, thanks to everyone at the NHS who did the checks on my heart, lungs, bloods.

'I'm all OK, it's all clear which would mean I had a massive panic attack on live TV. I mean the shame of it. 

'I mean it felt very real to me, I'm really new to panic attacks so I need to learn more about it. But I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone at This Morning who looked after me, all of your messages, Dermot who has just been incredible, everyone has just, honestly it's really warmed my heart.'