ITV This Morning's Alison Hammond makes candid 'I was dying' weight confession

This Morning's Alison Hammond bravely opened up about her previous battles with weight, confessing there was a time when she was 'dying' due to her size.

During Friday's episode, while co-hosting with Dermot O'Leary, Hammond had a candid discussion about whether overweight passengers should purchase two plane seats.

In the presence of guests Tom Swarbrick and Gyles Brandreth, the TV favourite shared her personal experiences, revealing her past embarrassment over having to buy an extra seat during flights.

Alison, who once tipped the scales at nearly 28 stone, acknowledged her weight and her decision to alter her lifestyle. She disclosed: "I was nearly 28 stone I'll be honest with you and that is morbidly obese and I used to buy an extra seat because I didn't want to put anyone in a situation where I was touching them."

Recounting a particularly mortifying incident, Alison recounted how she felt humiliated when someone requested to switch seats due to how close she was which ultimately led to an upgrade to first class for her, reports the Mirror.

Concluding her personal story, she expressed: "It was embarrassing the whole thing and from that moment I just started buying two seats. I don't do it anymore because I've lost a bit of timber but not everyone can afford to do that."

Alison highlighted the need for airlines to accommodate larger passengers, stating: "Weight is a disability and I think airlines should cater for bigger people and I know a lot of people are going to disagree but what if you've got obesity and you can't lose weight."

Tom queried: "Do you think if you had a bigger seat that you would have lost the weight? " To which Alison responded: "I was bigger and I made myself comfortable by buying two seats. For many years I was big and during that time I made my life comfortable."

Gyles interjected with a question about societal pressures: "Because the world made you feel awkward, did that encourage you to lose weight? ".

Opening up about her health struggles, Alison disclosed: "I was in a situation where I was morbidly obese," and admitted, "I had to lose weight because I was dying, I really was dying."

She concluded with a personal note on her current state: "People will still say I'm big but now I'm 17 stone rather than 28 stone and I'm comfortable with telling you my weight."

This Morning is on ITV weekdays at 10am