This Morning's much-loved presenter Alison Hammond has been tapped to replace Matt Lucas as the new host of The Great British Bake Off.

This summer, she will join comedian Noel Fielding to welcome 12 new bakers to the tent and bosses are expected to announce her as Fielding's co-presenter in the coming days.

Fans of the show had been calling for a female presenter to replace Lucas, and the mum-of-one will be the first non-white host or judge in the show’s 14-year history.

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A source told The Mirror: "Alison is a great choice. She will bring warmth and humour to the tent in spades. We’re laughing just thinking about it."

The TV star from Birmingham expressed her excitement about the new opportunity and even showcased her baking skills during on the celebrity version for Stand Up 2 Cancer.

Going up against James Blunt, Alex Jones and Joe Sugg, she declared: “I do think that good food and good baking comes from the heart – and I’ve got a lot of heart.”

Exuding confidence right from the start, she told judges Paul Hollywood and Dame Prue Leith: “I love chocolate brownies. Any time I go out and about, try a brownie, it never compares to my brownies. I know that sounds really big headed.”

Presenting her brownies, complete with bright pink love-hearts on top, Hammond reduced the hosts and judges to tears of laughter when she quipped, "You know when people have dogs that look like them? Well, this is a traybake that looks like me."

Although her brownies received high praise from the judges, her attempt to bake her childhood dream of being a police officer fell apart, with Paul Hollywood telling her: "It’s a bit like a five-year-old has been given a load of biscuits to cut out."

Nevertheless, Prue Leith admitted, "I don’t think we’ve ever met anybody with this much confidence," and after trying them, she declared, "They taste divine."

Hammond's career in the entertainment industry began in 2002 when she became the second housemate to be evicted from the third series of Big Brother.

Since then, she has remained with This Morning and has appeared on several other TV shows, including Celebrity MasterChef, I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here, and Strictly Come Dancing.

Although the BBC entertainment show I Can See Your Voice, in which she appeared alongside Jimmy Carr and Amanda Holden, has been cancelled, Hammond co-hosted the Bafta film awards on BBC1 alongside Richard E Grant last month.

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