Alison Hammond dealt blow as For The Love of Dogs ratings is half of Paul O'Grady's

Alison Hammond befriends a canine companion on For The Love Of The Dogs (Image: ITV)

Alison Hammond was forced to ward off a backlash as she took over from the late Paul O'Grady to present For The Love Of Dogs, as viewers switched off. Critics had pointed out that, unlike Paul, she didn't own any dogs herself, leading them to question whether her passion for them was genuine.

The debut episode of the new series premiered last night, and reached just two million viewers at its peak moment. According to ITV ratings, audience figures averaged double that amount when Paul was at the helm, with more than four million viewers per episode in 2021.

Meanwhile, at the show's peak in 2013, a mammoth 5.35 million viewers tuned in. A stormy backlash erupted on Twitter last night, with one follower blasting: "The main difference is when Paul O’Grady did this, he did it for his genuine love of dogs."

Another viewer lamented: "Alison Hammond appears to have no connection, passion or affinity with the dogs as Paul did. Why they chose her is a mystery."

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READ MORE: Paul O'Grady remembered in first For The Love Of Dogs episode since death [LATEST]

Alison Hammond on the debut episode of the new series of For The Love of Dogs (Image: ITV)

However, Alison fired back in a conversation with The Sun's TV magazine, referring to the backlash she'd been slapped with before the show had even begun.

"I was actually surprised with how much [backlash] I got for doing the show," she lamented.

"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 admitted.

However, she then described it as a "flawed argument", adding: " I would say to those trolls: ‘Don’t watch it then. If you don’t want to help Battersea, don’t watch it.'

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Alison Hammond has now addressed the backlash (Image: ITV) SUBSCRIBE Invalid email

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"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."

Meanwhile, some followers tweeted to defend Alison from the backlash, with one quizzing: "Why is there such hate for her on here? Am I missing something?"

Another addressed her personally to say: "You were great last night. Paul would have loved you."

A third added: "#AlisonHammond presenting The Love Of Dogs won't be easy, having to follow Paul O'Grady. There is no need for some of the nasty comments. I'm sure we have all been new to a job, and it takes time to settle in."

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