Alison Hammond reveals she was named after Muhammad Ali after her dad acted as his bodyguard  – and says the late boxing icon ‘absolutely loved’ her father

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Alison Hammond has revealed she is named after Muhammad Ali. 

On The Jonathan Ross Show, the 51-year-old TV presenter shared an interesting story about her father, Clifford. He used to be a bodyguard for boxing legend Muhammad Ali, who sadly passed away in 2016 at the age of 74 after a long struggle with Parkinson’s disease.

Alison, whose father passed away in 2020, surprised Jonathan by sharing that people call her Ali – a name her father gave her, in honor of Muhammad Ali. She also mentioned she has a sister named Alicia who lives in Jamaica, and another brother also named Ali.

My two siblings and I are all named after Muhammad Ali. Our dad was his bodyguard and a huge fan! Whenever Ali visited Birmingham, my dad was always assigned to protect him.

She shared that she had met him once before, but it was when she was younger and didn’t realize who he was. She said it felt like being forced to meet someone – like when a parent pulls you along to an event – and she actually tried to move away from him at the time.

‘I got photos of me going, who’s this weirdo?’

Alison has previously talked about her relationship with Clifford, who used to bring trucks from the UK to the Caribbean.

Maria, his mother, only discovered he had another family when she was pregnant with Alison. As a result, she raised Alison by herself.

In her book, Alison described him as living a lavish lifestyle and being revered like royalty in Jamaica. His imposing personality, however, often made people uncomfortable.

You could just feel the weight of his presence even when he wasn’t around. Everyone talked about him with this mix of respect and, honestly, a little bit of fear. It was clear he was a powerful figure in our community, and people definitely knew it.

People called him Mr. Hammond, and you could tell they were uncomfortable around him. It wasn’t hard to see why – he always had a large shotgun visible in his truck. He was a no-nonsense kind of guy.

After her father, Clifford Hammond, died of cancer in June 2020, she posted a photo on Instagram with a message sharing the news and identifying him as her ‘real Dad.’ He had passed away the previous week while in Jamaica.

I’m so sorry I can’t attend his funeral. I also regret that we didn’t have as much time together as I wished, and I’m feeling a deep sense of loss right now. Rest peacefully, Dad. The love we shared will always be with me. Rest in peace.

Maria died just five months before Clifford after battling liver and lung cancer. 

During her appearance on the Jonathan Ross show, she also addressed speculation that she would be appearing on the next season of Celebrity Traitors.

Quashing the rumours, she said: ‘I can’t do it, because I’m doing Bake Off..

It clashes with my filming schedule for Bake Off, so I can’t participate, and I’m really sorry about that. If I did join, I’d definitely want to be one of the ‘Faithful’ players – I’d rather avoid all the pressure of being a ‘Traitor’.

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2026-03-26 14:34