Alison Hammond has weighed in on rumours that Strictly Come Dancing bosses are considering employing chaperones for the celebrity contestants. The 49 year old This Morning presenter, who competed on the BBC dance show in 2014 and partnered with professional Aljaz Skorjanec, whom she recently described as "absolutely incredible", shared her thoughts on the matter. This comes in the wake of Graziano Di Prima's alleged dismissal and accusations against Giovanni Pernice, leading to speculation that chaperones may be hired to protect stars from any potential misconduct by the professional dancers.
On Tuesday's (July 16) episode of This Morning, Alison expressed her opinion: "I personally think it's a good idea." Her co-host Dermot O'Leary asked: "Would you have wanted a chaperone when you did it?" She responded, "Obviously not, I don't want a chaperone. You just want to enjoy yourself.
To be fair, out of the five days training in a week, you probably have cameras in the studio with you three of those days", reports the Mirror . Dermot then queried: "Did you feel safe and secure?" as Alison affirmed: "Yeah, I had Aljaz and he was a brilliant teacher. I loved working with him and I never had any issues whatsoever but there was always people around filming the rehearsals but there was about two days a week where I was alone with just Aljaz rehearsing but I personally wouldn't mind chaperones if it's going to safeguard people.
" According to The Times, implementing chaperones at star's training sessions has been suggested to make sure that the professionals don't overstep any bounds. Other measures being considered include stricter scrutinisation of the show's professional dancers - and providing them with more intensive training to deal with celebrities. A source close to the situation revealed: "The BBC has toughened up its duty of care rules and Sam is now acting as a full-time duty of care exec.
She will be discussing the protocols and where they need to be tightened up. It's 90 per cent a happy ship but the push to win and compete might have meant some overstepping of the mark. "We have acted swiftly and decisively to nip that in the bud and it doesn't take away from almost everyone else having a really lovely, enriching experience from being part of the show.
" The BBC has yet to issue a response to these allegations..
