EXCLUSIVE: Kate Lawler has revealed her dream role alongside close pal Alison Hammond 24 years after the pair first met on series three of Big Brother.
Kate Lawler on This Morning(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Fresh from her success presenting Big Brother: The Group Chat, Kate Lawler has her eyes on the big prize at This Morning. The TV personality, 46, admits she is desperate to sit on the main sofa alongside close pal Alison Hammond.
But she is keen to stress she is not gunning for Dermot O’Leary’s job. The Big Brother series three winner was widely praised for her link-up with GK Barry on this year’s spin-off show.
And she revealed she has been begging producers to let her make the step up on the ITV morning show where she presents live competitions and segments.
Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, Kate said: “I’m the silly one now on This Morning. But Alison and I, like I’ve always said that I would love to host the show with Alison.
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“Not that I’m trying to take Dermot’s job! But we always say to Vivek who runs it, ‘Put us on together, Vivek! We’d love to host together’. We still would love to do something together. I don’t know what that is.
“But I would love to do that show if Dermot has a sick day. But I’m definitely not trying to take his job, because Dermot and Alison are just the best duo, and you can tell their chemistry is genuine. They genuinely get on, they love each other. But we still would love to do that show together one day.”
Speaking of genuine connections, Kate admits she was surprised at how well she gelled with GK Barry on their Big Brother spin-off.
“When I did a screen test with GK, I was just like, she is laugh-out-loud funny, and if I’m not doing the show with her, I don’t want to do it with anyone else. She is jokes, and she made my belly laugh every day. She’s probably one of the funniest people I know, just loved working with her.”
Kate was speaking ahead of the launch of Pooch & Mutt’s Christmas range, where the star is an ambassador. And Kate was keen to stress how important her link-up with the company is.
She opened up about how proud she is regarding the work that Pooch & Mutt are doing, especially with their calming range. “I love working with them,” she gushed. “The range is great, they’re for every breed, every need…
“And they work with Woodgreen pets, which is a rehoming charity as well. If anyone is thinking about getting a dog for Christmas, please consider rescues, because so many people think, ‘Oh no, a rescue’s going to be a problematic dog.’
“You can get like puppies in rescue, you can get young dogs through no fault of their own who’ve come into rescue, they’re not all problematic. So, I love that they work with the charity as well.”
Kate, has two dogs herself – mixed-breed terrier rescue Shirley, eight, and border terrier Baxter, 16. And she admits sometimes prefers dogs over humans. Speaking of Baxter, she said: “He’s been the most constant thing in my life as an adult. I haven’t even been with my husband that long.
“He has been through house moves, through breakups, through everything: jobs. And, honestly, he’s getting to the end-of-life stage now. He’s deaf, he’s got osteoarthritis, he has his acupuncture once a month, but he is just still going strong.
“I don’t know how long he’s got left, it’s quite sad. But it’s one of those things in life where you never kind of know when the right time is, and I don’t ever want it to get too horrible for him.”
This Christmas Pooch & Mutt are celebrating the central role dogs play in our festive traditions and driving home one core truth: Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without your dog.
The festive range includes the new Festive Gingerbread Dog Advent Calendar, Festive Pigs in Blankets Meaty Treats and more, combining indulgent seasonal flavours with functional health benefits, providing for all breeds and needs.
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