Yahoo News Alison Hammond left horrified by £30k vase prank on This Morning
Dermot O'Leary was responsible for carrying out the ambitious April Fools Day gag, based on a fake Antiques Roadshow valuation.
What did you miss?
Alison Hammond ended up on the receiving end of an impressive April Fools Day prank on Monday's episode of This Morning, involving a vase apparently worth £30,000. Her co-presenter Dermot O'Leary was in on the gag, after which Hammond said she had "never felt so sick in my life".
O'Leary jumped for joy after completely fooling Hammond by smashing a supposedly valuable vase in front of its owner. He explained that he had been rehearsing his part all weekend in order to convincingly pull off the joke.
Who, what and why?
Dermot O'Leary and Alison Hammond opened their week as presenters of This Morning by welcoming Joanna Lydon, who had seen a vase she bought for £1.50 valued at a massive £30,000 on the Antiques Roadshow.
To make the ruse more plausible, O'Leary drafted in pawnbroker and money expert Dan Hatfield to explain that the vase was one of just two of its kind, with a double at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City.
Hatfield said: "This has set the art world on fire because it changes everything we know about abstract art."
At this point, O'Leary turned his body to the side and knocked the vase off its plinth, where it shattered on the floor. Both Hammond and Joanna screamed in shock as O'Leary said in a panicked voice that he would pay for the damage he had caused.
It's a vase bought for £1.50, which turned out to be worth over £30,000... or at least that's what @AlisonHammond thought! What could possibly go wrong... 🤣
See what happened when @radioleary pranked Alison this #AprilFoolsDay on #ThisMorning! pic.twitter.com/xKciDAwOO5— This Morning (@thismorning) April 1, 2024
"Are you actually joking? I'm so sorry," said Hammond as she tried to compose herself. Soon, though, O'Leary revealed the joke and Hammond began to laugh in relief.
"That is so not funny," she said. "I actually felt sick. I was going to start crying. I didn't know what to even say. Is this not real? I've been reading the brief all day."
Hammond learned that Joanna was actually an actor called Vanessa and urged everyone to "feel my heartbeat" to show how terrified she was at the prospect of such an expensive bit of damage being done on live TV. "I really really believed that," she admitted.
Eagle-eyed art fans will have been able to spot the joke early, though, as Hatfield claimed the vase had been the work of abstract art pioneer Piet Mondrian. However, Mondrian was known as a painter rather than someone who made vases.
What else happened on This Morning?
Gyles Brandreth and The Apprentice adviser Tim Campbell appeared on the show to discuss the day's biggest news headlines. Brandreth is no stranger to a prank, having been caught out by a fake Princess of Wales TV series announcement in March.
TOWIE duo Lauren Goodger and Amy Childs also took up a spot in the sofa in order to promote the upcoming reunion special for the reality series that helped them shoot to fame.
This Morning airs on weekdays from 10am on ITV1.
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