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Alison Hammond says she was named after 'family friend' and boxing icon Muhammad Ali

Alison Hammond revealed that she was named after Muhammad Ali as her dad was pals with the boxing legend.

Speaking to Holly Willoughby on her Wylde Moon podcast, Alison said how she would have cuddles with the sporting hero when she was younger.

The 47-year-old presenter explained how when Muhammad came to Birmingham, her dad would be his body guard.

She told Holly: "Him and another coupe of the guys would be Muhammad Ali's bodyguards, so occasionally my mum would take me to go and meet Muhammad Ali.

She reminisced: "At the time I can remember I was six years old the first time I met him and he was doing a talk and he grabbed me and said 'oh my god she looks just like my daughter'.

Alison Hammond shared how she was named after the iconic boxer (alisonhammond55/Instagram)

"And he just wouldn't let go of me. Muhammad Ali had me on his lap and he was cuddling me and you could see me as a child literally just pulling away from this man, thinking 'just leave me alone'," she added.

She said that one time the boxer gave her a magic trick, as he himself was a huge fan of them.

Speaking fondly of that moment Alison said it was like a traffic light that turned different colours.

She said her dad was the boxer's bodyguard (Getty Images)
Alison was chatting on This Morning pal Holly Willoughby's new podcast (Instagram)

She said that it wasn't until she was older that she realised who he was.

"He was a lovely guy and my dad was obsessed with him, he adored him so he named three of his children after Muhammad Ali.

"So there's me, Alison, then there's Ali and there's another sister called Alica."

Recently fans were shocked by Alison's age after she discussed it on This Morning.

She said how her dad Clifford (pictured) would take her to see Muhammad (Instagram/ @alisonhammond55)

She celebrated her birthday on February 5 and the ITV studio made a huge fuss of the former Big Brother star the day before.

The presenter also shared a black and white snap of her son Aiden, who shares the same birthday as her.

Alison and her son laughed together in front of a light display with sparklers.

Alison recently celebrated her 47th birthday (Instagram)

"About last night - 47/17 Two birthdays Mother and son . Aidan was born on my birthday," she captioned the snap.

"Did Alison Hammond just say she’s 47? No way is she that old. Did she mean to say 37?" one user said on Twitter.

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Another wrote: "Rainy half term Tuesday morning watching @thismorning firstly how gorgeous is @AlisonHammond looking today and secondly how the hell is she 47?!!!! I genuinely thought she was at least 10yrs younger #thismorning."

Another simply wrote: "How?"

"He was born on your birthday?! Wow !! Happy birthday" one follower wrote.

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