For the Love of Dogs made its return to ITV this week, with new presenter Alison Hammond fronting the show.
Of course, fans of the series were devastated when the previous host – and famed animal lover – Paul O’Grady died in March 2023, just one year ago.
He had hosted the show ever since its first ever episode in 2012. For 11 series, the comedian followed the work of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, meeting some of the dogs there and the people who look after them.
After his tragic death at the age of 67, ITV subsequently hired Alison Hammond to host the show. In January, the broadcaster confirmed Alison was the new presenter, and she made it clear she could never ‘replace’ Paul.
On Tuesday, April 16, 2024, Alison made her first appearance on the show. And, unsurprisingly perhaps, there were viewers who were not happy – and that’s if they even tuned in, after threatening to boycott the show.
For the Love of Dogs with Alison Hammond
In the new six-part series of For the Love of Dogs, Alison Hammond headed to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home to help the animals in their care look for a new place to live.
With more abandoned and stray dogs in need of care than ever, Alison will be telling the stories of some of the latest arrivals at Battersea. She’ll also be helping the staff and volunteers to take care of the animals and get them ready for their potential new owners.
Carrying on the legacy left by the much-loved Paul O’Grady, This Morning presenter Alison headed to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home to help the animals in their care find new forever homes.
In the opening episode, Alison bottle-fed a three-day-old puppy tragically found abandoned in a bin. She also met a toy-obsessed terrier in training to be a sniffer dog, and fell head over heels for Nelly, a spaniel with a rare eye condition.
Fan reaction to Alison presenting
Of course, nobody can replace Paul O’Grady. That goes without saying. He was a TV legend, who tragically died too soon. But he would have wanted the show to carry on without him – because of the light it shines on his favourite charity.
Fact: Battersea Dogs and Cats Home took in 50 per cent more abandoned puppies last year.
So although there are many who believe there were better choices to host For the Love of Dogs, at least the show continues in Paul’s honour. Although arguably, Alison does not have the same affection for the dogs that Paul had. Unlike Paul, Alison insists she is “too busy” to have a dog as a pet.
Perhaps that’s jarring, and fans were quick to make their opinions clear on the new presenter.
Viewers slam Alison as new host of For the Love of Dogs
It’s fair to say viewers were divided over Alison Hammond’s first stint as host of For the Love of Dogs on ITV, with the haters by far the most vocal.
One viewer blasted: “Alison Hammond is easily the worst presenter I’ve seen on TV in years; cannot watch anything with her in it – she could host ‘TV, gone to the dogs!’.”
Another called for a boycott, typing: “So how many boycotted @AlisonHammond For the Love of Dogs show? Got to ask the question why her? I think this has back fired and they know they’ve made a bad choice.”
A third wrote: “Alison Hammond trying to convince people that For the Love of Dogs was a success for her first show! Don’t be fooled! This over-hyped motor mouth ruins everything she goes on! Thousands turned over the channel, she’s a diversity hire, a fat black female that’s all you need now.”
“Wrong person for the job,” added another, while one more said: “I won’t be watching as I find her too loud and those poor traumatised dogs are in for a shock. I no longer watch Bake Off because of her.”
Others called her “loud”, “brash”, “annoying” and “unwatchable”, and accused ITV of becoming “the Alison Hammond Channel”. Of course, the fact that Alison “has never owned a dog” annoyed many viewers too.
‘Alison did a wonderful job’
There were some who defended Alison. One fan wrote: “I thought she did well. It’s a hard job to live up to after Paul, no matter who takes over. Like Paul said, the dogs are the stars.”
Another said: “Alison did a wonderful job.”
A third wrote: “Paul was always going to be a hard act to follow, no matter who it was. Alison did a fabulous job. We loved every moment, so try and ignore the trolls and horrible comments and make it your own, beautiful lady.”
“What a miserable lot of old complainers!” said another. “Alison was brilliant. Paul would have been proud and quite disgusted with the attitudes of people on here.”
Do you agree?
For the Love of Dogs with Alison Hammond continues on Tuesday, April 23, 2024 at 8pm on ITV1.
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