Alison Hammond breaks down in floods of tears on This Morning and has to be consoled by co-stars

ALISON Hammond broke down in floods of tears and sobbed as she spoke about her battle with obesity on This Morning.

The 47-year-old TV star was consoled by co-hosts Dermot O’Leary and agony aunt Deidre Sanders live on air.

She broke down during a phone-in when a caller called Jean spoke about her 17-year-old daughter’s problems with food.

Alison was so moved by the call that she broke down crying at the end, sobbing: “It’s so hard, people don’t realise. When you’re big, people think you’re lazy.”

She said: “I’ve had obesity all my life. What it is is, your regulation system is out of whack. You can’t control wanting to eat all the time.

“A lot of people don’t realise – obesity is a disease. You can’t help it.”

Starting to cry she added: “Sorry. I get… I think people look down on people when they’re so big. They can’t actually help it.

“It’s really difficult. You want all the bad things and you know you don’t look great. Sorry. It really touches me. The NHS need to see it more as a disease.”

As the cameras cut away from her she wiped tears from her face saying: “This has really affected me, I’m so sorry.”

Sun legend Deidre then got out of her seat and came over to give the host a hug saying: “Oh Alison.”

Dermot, 48, told viewers: “Thank you so much Deidre. We’ll be back in just a second after this break.”

She composed herself after the adverts, apologising to This Morning viewers. But he insisted: “Don’t you dare say sorry.”

One fan tweeted: “Alison showing her vulnerability and her struggles on tv is why I love her so much. She’s so relatable for so many people! I just wanted to cuddle her.”

Another wrote: “Alison is such an awesome person, it was heartbreaking seeing her so upset. Lots of love and light Alison, keep smiling beautiful lady.”