Police investigating claims of blackmail targeted against TV presenter Alison Hammond have made an arrest.

The 48-year-old ITV This Morning presenter and newly announced co-host of The Great British Bake Off was reportedly blackmailed for large sums of money and a £5,000 BMW, according to The Sun newspaper.

Now West Midlands Police said a 36-year-old man from Warwickshire was arrested on suspicion of blackmail on Saturday evening and has been in custody for questioning.

According to The Sun, the mother-of-one 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 co-operate with the demands.

Birmingham-born Hammond rose to fame as a contestant on the third series of Big Brother in 2002 and joined This Morning in the same year.

Currently, she presents the weekday daytime show with O’Leary on Friday mornings and has gone on to appear in multiple reality shows including I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, Celebrity Coach Trip, Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity MasterChef.

Most recently she appeared alongside actor Richard E Grant to host the 2023 Baftas.

Whilst just last week it was confirmed that  Hammond will take over from Matt Lucas to present the upcoming series of Channel 4’s The Great British Bake Off alongside comedian Noel Fielding.