A man has been arrested by police investigating claims of blackmail targeted at the This Morning presenter Alison Hammond. West Midlands police confirmed the arrest of a 36-year-old man from Warwickshire on Saturday evening. Hammond regularly presents the ITV show alongside Dermot O’Leary and was recently announced as the new cohost of The Great British Bake Off. In an earlier statement, West Midlands police said: “We are investigating an allegation of blackmail of a woman in her 40s. We take reports of this kind very seriously and our inquiries are progressing swiftly.” Hammond was blackmailed for large sums of money and a £5,000 BMW, according to reports in the Sun on Saturday. The newspaper reported that the 48-year-old was put under pressure by her blackmailer, who threatened to spread lies about her in an effort to damage her career if she did not cooperate with the demands. The Birmingham-born Hammond rose to fame as a contestant on the third series of Big Brother in 2002 and joined This Morning the same year. She presents the weekday daytime show with O’Leary on Friday mornings and has appeared in multiple reality shows, including I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!, Celebrity Coach Trip, Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity MasterChef. More recently, she appeared alongside actor Richard E Grant to host the 2023 Baftas. It was confirmed last week that Hammond will take over from Matt Lucas to present the upcoming series of Channel 4’s The Great British Bake Off with comedian Noel Fielding. Hammond’s representatives have been approached for comment.