Last Updated: 11 November 2026
Alison Hammond boyfriend David Putman has been at the centre of one of British television’s most talked-about romances since the couple went public in 2024. The This Morning presenter, 51, has been dating the 29-year-old Russian model and massage therapist since December 2023, and the 22-year gap between them has kept the relationship in the headlines ever since.
What makes the Alison Hammond boyfriend story so compelling is not the age gap alone but the way Hammond has handled it. She has spoken about the relationship on her own terms, in interviews with Good Housekeeping and Attitude magazine, and she has refused to let online criticism define it. The result is a love story that says as much about her confidence and good humour as it does about her private life.
Who is Alison Hammond’s boyfriend? Alison Hammond boyfriend David Putman is a 29-year-old Russian model and massage therapist who has been dating the This Morning presenter since December 2023. The couple met when Hammond booked him for a massage, went public in April 2024, and live together near Birmingham despite a 22-year age gap.
Who Is Alison Hammond’s Boyfriend?
Alison Hammond boyfriend David Putman is a Russian model and massage therapist who is 29 years old in 2026. He works in both worlds: modelling jobs on one side and massage therapy on the other. It was the massage work that brought the couple together, because Hammond first met him when she booked him for a professional treatment in 2023.
David Putman, the Alison Hammond boyfriend, keeps a much lower profile than his famous partner. He rarely gives interviews and does not court publicity, which means most of what the public knows about him comes from Hammond herself. She has described him as a lovely man with a calm, easy nature, and she has said more than once that being with him feels effortless.
In simple terms, an age-gap relationship is a romance between two adults whose ages differ by a decade or more, and the label is usually applied when the gap shapes how the public sees the couple. The Alison Hammond boyfriend story fits that definition exactly, because the 22 years between Hammond and Putman have drawn far more comment than the relationship itself. Hammond, for her part, has always treated the gap as a fact rather than a problem.
The Alison Hammond boyfriend story also has a family angle: her son Aidan, 21, is part of that household picture too, and his approval has mattered a great deal to Hammond. She has said that Aidan normally hates anybody she dates, yet he took to Putman straight away, which she counts as one of the best signs the relationship is right.
How Alison Hammond Met David Putman
The story of how the Alison Hammond boyfriend romance began is refreshingly ordinary. There was no showbusiness introduction and no red-carpet meeting. Instead, the couple met through work, in a setting that had nothing to do with television at all, and the relationship grew slowly from there.
- 2023: the massage booking. Hammond booked Putman, then working as a massage therapist, for a professional massage session. Sparks flew during that first meeting, according to reports of how the pair met.
- Friendship turns to romance. The two stayed in touch after the appointment, and what began as a professional contact became a friendship and then something more.
- December 2023: they start dating. Hammond and Putman began their relationship in December 2023, the date she has given in interviews since.
- April 2024: she confirms it. Appearing on Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe’s Parenting Hell podcast, Hammond was asked if she was single and replied: “No… I’m not single… I’m dating. I’m dating!”
- June 2024: the first public outings. The couple stepped out together at the Candy Kittens Candy Day Summer Bash in London, joined by Hammond’s son Aidan, in a clear answer to the split rumours already circulating.
- 2024 to 2026: settling down. The pair moved in together near Birmingham, and the Alison Hammond boyfriend story has featured in a string of interviews, most recently in Attitude magazine in October 2026.
That slow, private start explains a lot about how the couple handle fame now. They did not launch the relationship with a magazine cover or a joint announcement. They let it grow quietly for months, and Hammond only confirmed it when she was ready. Even now, they share relatively little of their life together on social media, and that restraint is part of why the Alison Hammond boyfriend story still makes headlines whenever a new photograph appears.
The 22-Year Age Gap: What Alison Has Said
No part of the Alison Hammond boyfriend story has attracted more comment than the 22-year age gap. Hammond is 51 and Putman is 29, and the difference has brought a steady stream of online criticism, much of it using the word “toyboy” to describe him. Hammond has tackled that criticism head-on, and she has done so with her trademark warmth rather than anger.
Speaking to Good Housekeeping in its January 2025 issue, she addressed the gap directly. “I can see how, on paper, you’d notice the age difference,” she said. “Yes, I’m 22 years older than he is, but if you saw us together, you’d understand. People have said to me, ‘We get it now.’” She also made clear that the “toyboy” label bears no relation to what the couple actually share.
Her most recent answer came in October 2026, when she spoke to Attitude magazine after winning the Honorary Gay Award at the Attitude Awards 2026. Asked what she would say to people who criticise the relationship, she replied with three words: “Mind your business!” She added that people spend far too much time worrying about other people’s relationships, and she explained what she loves most about being with Putman. “I love that we can make each other laugh,” she said. “That’s the big thing for me. Life is too short to be in a relationship where you can’t laugh together.”
The same message has come through in other interviews about the Alison Hammond boyfriend relationship. In April 2026 she told MailOnline that the couple are “absolutely in love”, according to Tyla, and in September 2026 she joked to The Sun about the practical perks of dating a massage therapist, saying she is having a lot of massages because he has “healing hands”. The humour is deliberate. Hammond refuses to treat the age gap as something she must defend, and she turns the conversation back to laughter, kindness and choosing each other every day.
Alison Hammond and David Putman at a Glance
The table below sets out the key facts about the Alison Hammond boyfriend relationship in one place, so readers can see the couple side by side. Ages are as reported in 2026, and the relationship dates come from Hammond’s own interviews.
| Alison Hammond | David Putman | |
|---|---|---|
| Age in 2026 | 51 | 29 |
| Born | 5 February 1975, Birmingham | Around 1997, Russia (he turned 27 in 2024, according to reports) |
| Job | Television presenter | Model and massage therapist |
| Best known for | This Morning, The Great British Bake Off | His relationship with Hammond |
| Age gap | 22 years | |
| Together since | December 2023 | |
| Going public | April 2024, on the Parenting Hell podcast | |
| Living situation | Together in a house just outside Birmingham | |
The numbers behind the Alison Hammond boyfriend story tell only half the story. Hammond is one of the most recognisable faces on British television, while Putman had no public profile at all before the relationship. That imbalance is part of why the romance draws so much attention: he stepped into the spotlight because of her, not the other way round. Hammond has said she is protective of that, which is why the couple keep most of their life together private.
Split Rumours and Why They Keep Coming Back
Few celebrity couples attract split rumours as regularly as Hammond and Putman, and the Alison Hammond boyfriend story has followed the same pattern several times. The rumours usually start the same way: the couple spend a holiday apart, or Hammond posts something cryptic on social media, and speculation fills the gap. So far, every round of rumours has ended the same way too, with the couple appearing together and the story fading away.
The first big wave came in June 2024, only months after the relationship went public. Hammond hinted at trouble during an Instagram question-and-answer session, and Putman celebrated his birthday in Lake Como, Italy, without her. Within weeks, though, the couple were photographed looking loved-up at the Candy Kittens event in London alongside her son Aidan, firmly shutting down the speculation.
The second wave followed Christmas 2024, which the couple spent apart. Putman enjoyed a beach holiday while Hammond stayed in the UK for her pantomime performances, and the split rumours started again. They ended on 17 January 2025, when the pair were photographed kissing in London, a picture that left no room for doubt about where the Alison Hammond boyfriend relationship stood.
The most recent proof that the Alison Hammond boyfriend romance is still going strong came in October 2026, when Hammond spoke about Putman in the present tense throughout her Attitude interview and described a relationship built on laughter. Nearly three years after they began dating, the couple are still together, still living near Birmingham, and still choosing each other every day. The rumours, in other words, have been wrong every time.
There is a simple reason the speculation keeps returning: the couple rarely post about each other, so fans and gossip pages fill the silence with guesses. Hammond has never hidden the Alison Hammond boyfriend relationship, but she has never turned it into content either.
Alison Hammond’s Past Relationships
Before Putman, the most important relationship in Hammond’s life was with Noureddine Boufaied, a cab driver she was engaged to for almost a decade, and it shapes how she approaches the Alison Hammond boyfriend headlines today. The couple were together for around nine years and had a son, Aidan, who was born in 2005. They split in 2014, and Hammond has raised Aidan largely as a single mum since then. She has spoken honestly about how hard dating can be as a single parent, and about how protective Aidan is of her.
After that long relationship ended, Hammond dated gardener Ben Hawkins from 2021 to 2023. That relationship came to an end before she met Putman, and Hammond has said little about it in public. What she has said, many times, is that her son’s opinion matters more than anyone else’s when she starts dating someone new. Aidan, she has explained, normally hates anybody she dates, which makes his warm reaction to Putman all the more meaningful.
That history matters because it explains why Hammond guards the Alison Hammond boyfriend relationship so carefully. She is not new to love, and she is not new to heartbreak either. She spent nearly ten years with the father of her child, she raised her son alone, and she knows exactly what she wants from a partner now. The Alison Hammond boyfriend story is not a whirlwind romance. It is a settled, grown-up relationship between two people who have chosen each other and built a home together.
Marriage, Family Life and What Happens Next
The question everyone asks next about the Alison Hammond boyfriend couple is whether Hammond and Putman will get married, and her answer has been consistent: there are no immediate plans. Speaking in October 2026, she said she did not think there would be a big white wedding, adding: “I don’t think so. We don’t need to! We’re both cool.” She has also said she does not need a ring to show her love for somebody, and that if Putman asked her to marry him it would not be a flat no, but the traditional proposal is not something she is chasing.
An engagement rumour did sweep through the press in 2024, when Hammond was spotted wearing a diamond ring on her left hand while hosting This Morning. She shut that story down at the time, and no engagement has followed. The couple have carried on exactly as before, without any rush to formalise what they already have.
Family life, rather than wedding plans, is where the couple’s energy goes. They share a home just outside Birmingham, Aidan is a regular presence in their lives, and Hammond has described the household as easy and drama-free. In July 2026 she told The Sun that the romance feels “easy” and that the pair “choose each other every day”, a line that captures the relationship better than any headline about the age gap ever could.
As for what happens next for the Alison Hammond boyfriend couple, Hammond has given no sign of wanting anything to change. She is at the peak of her television career, her relationship is settled, and her son is an adult. The Alison Hammond boyfriend story, nearly three years in, looks less like a passing headline and more like a lasting part of her life, and Hammond herself seems entirely comfortable with that.
From Big Brother to Bake Off: The Career Behind the Headlines
To understand why the Alison Hammond boyfriend story attracts so much attention, it helps to remember how famous Hammond has become. She was born on 5 February 1975 in Birmingham, to Jamaican parents, and grew up in the Kingstanding district of the city alongside her sister and brother. Nothing about her early life pointed towards television, and her route to fame was anything but conventional.
She came to prominence in 2002 as a contestant on the third series of Channel 4’s Big Brother, where she was the second housemate to be evicted and finished in 11th place. Viewers loved her warmth and humour so much that ITV hired her the same year, and she began presenting and reporting for This Morning, a role she has held ever since. In 2021 she became a main co-presenter of the show, hosting Fridays, school holidays and bank holidays alongside Dermot O’Leary.
The years since have brought a string of hit shows. She competed on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in 2010, took part in Celebrity Coach Trip in 2012, and in 2014 she appeared on both Celebrity MasterChef and the twelfth series of Strictly Come Dancing, where she finished tenth with professional partner Aljaž Škorjanec. In March 2023 she was announced as the new co-host of The Great British Bake Off, replacing Matt Lucas and joining Noel Fielding in the tent, and from April 2024 she has presented For the Love of Dogs, following the death of the show’s original presenter Paul O’Grady.
Her career has kept growing in 2026. As of January 2026 she hosts the official Bridgerton podcast for Netflix, and her interviews with Hollywood stars such as Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling and Dwayne Johnson regularly go viral. At 51, Hammond is busier than ever, and her success is the reason her private life draws so much interest.
That success also explains her confidence in handling the headlines about her love life. Hammond has spent more than two decades in the public eye, she has survived the reality television machine, and she has built a career on being herself. When she tells critics of the Alison Hammond boyfriend relationship to mind their business, she speaks as someone who has earned the right to set her own terms.
Alison Hammond boyfriend David Putman has been part of her life since December 2023, and nearly three years on the relationship looks stronger than ever. They met through a massage booking, went public in April 2024, survived repeated rounds of split rumours, and now share a home near Birmingham with her son’s blessing. The 22-year age gap still makes headlines, but Hammond has answered it the same way every time: with laughter, with honesty, and with three simple words.
What do you think of Alison Hammond’s relationship with David Putman? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and explore more of our Bake Off stories and celebrity biographies to keep up with the stars of the tent. For Hammond’s own words on the age gap, see the Attitude interview with Alison Hammond and Tyla’s report on the couple.
Who is Alison Hammond’s boyfriend?
Alison Hammond’s boyfriend is David Putman, a 29-year-old Russian model and massage therapist. The couple have been dating since December 2023, went public in April 2024, and live together in a house just outside Birmingham.
How old is Alison Hammond’s boyfriend?
Alison Hammond’s boyfriend David Putman is 29 years old in 2026, which makes him 22 years younger than Hammond, who is 51. He turned 27 in 2024, according to reports, and the couple have been together since December 2023.
How did Alison Hammond meet David Putman?
Alison Hammond met David Putman in 2023 when she booked him for a professional massage session. He was working as a massage therapist at the time, and the pair stayed in touch after the appointment before starting to date in December 2023.
Are Alison Hammond and David Putman still together?
Yes, Alison Hammond and David Putman are still together as of November 2026. Hammond spoke about Putman in her Attitude magazine interview in October 2026, describing a happy relationship built on laughter, and the couple have been together for nearly three years.
Has Alison Hammond ever been married?
No, Alison Hammond has never been married. She was previously engaged to Noureddine Boufaied, a cab driver and the father of her son Aidan, and the couple split in 2014 after around nine years together. She also dated gardener Ben Hawkins from 2021 to 2023.
Will Alison Hammond marry David Putman?
Alison Hammond has said she has no immediate plans to marry David Putman. She has said she does not think there will be a big white wedding, adding that they do not need to marry and are both cool with things as they are.
