Their 23-year age gap may have raised some eyebrows, but Alison Hammond and her boyfriend David Putman seem to be stronger than ever as they made their red-carpet debut alongside the This Morning presenter’s son Aidan last week.
Alison, 49, and Russian masseur David, 26, looked relaxed and happy as they attended a celebrity bash in London with 19-year-old Aidan. But behind her trademark smile, insiders tell heat Alison has been hurt by the backlash in some quarters to their age gap – including from David’s own mum.
“Alison has been really shaken by what she feels is a barrage of negativity since she announced her relationship with David. She can’t get her head around the snide comments. It’s taken the shine off what should have been such a happy time in her life,” says heat’s source. “She can’t understand why there’s such an issue around it. She says it’s 2024, and doesn’t see what is so taboo about dating a younger guy – Joan Collins never got this much grief. Besides, it’s her who’s the kid at heart – David is the mature one.”
The new For The Love Of Dogs host – whose previous relationships have included audio technician Ben Kusi and gardener Ben Hawkins reportedly met David over a year ago when she booked the body therapist to give her a massage. Their relationship is said to have turned romantic late last year, with fans left shocked after Alison went Instagram-official with him back in April.
Since then, their relationship has been far from plain sailing. Even David’s mum Olga has reportedly spoken out against the pair, encouraging him to ditch Alison in favour of “a nice Russian girl”. A source said, “Olga’s traditional values don’t sit well with their relationship. She’s uncomfortable that her son is with someone who has so much more financial power than him.”
Luckily for Alison, it was also reported that David was “unfazed” by Olga’s comments – and Aidan is supportive of his mum’s new relationship, too. In an interview, she said her son – from her marriage to taxi driver Noureddine Boufaied – had given her new man his seal of approval, “The person who I am seeing at the moment, [Aidan] is on his Instagram and he is like, ‘Yeah, I like him, he’s not too in your face.’ When they actually met, he really liked him, he really thought he was lovely, so that’s nice.”
But, although she has been rocked by the negativity towards the relationship, our source says Alison is more determined than ever to prove doubters wrong.
The insider adds, “Alison is confident she’s not making a big massive mistake or that she’ll make a fool of herself and luckily, she’s got good friends she can lean on for support. Two of her close circle are in the same situation with younger men, and one of them – who is also in the public eye – has told Alison to not give any f**ks what people say and just enjoy her life. She received similar criticism, but she just ignored it.”
The source continues, “Her other friend has told her that younger men are more adventurous and that age is just a number. She says the best thing Alison can do to show the haters is keep thriving .” The source adds that Alison has is very much of the “You’re only as old as you feel” opinion, and even more excitingly, we may even be hearing wedding bells soon.
“Things are going so well with David,” we’re told. “Her close friends are saying they can even see this one going all the way to the altar.”
We’d best buy a hat!