Alison Hammond recalls meeting Rihanna on a plane after being upgraded to first class when her seat broke

Alison Hammond has been keeping the ultimate dinner story in her back pocket - the time she met Rihanna and Jennifer Hudson on a plane following a chance upgrade to first class after her seat broke.

The bubbly TV star, 48, made the shocking revelation while talking to Dermot O’Leary and Kate Lawler during Friday’s episode of ITV’s This Morning about Rihanna’s upcoming Super Bowl LVII half-time performance.

“I saw her on a flight” Hammond remarked casually, to what a clearly stunned Lawler asked: “Was she in economy?”

Hammond continued: “Well what happened right - no seriously, my seat broke!”

She and O’Leary broke into laughter with Lawler adding: “What is it with you and breaking things!”

“No, the seat was broken so they upgraded me to first class,” Hammond insisted.

Adding: “Next thing I know, I’ve got Ri Ri in front of me, I’ve got Jennifer Hudson behind me, it was unbelievable, honestly. That was the first time I went in first class.”

Umbrella hit-maker Rihanna will be performing a 15-minute set during the interval when the Philadelphia Eagles go head-to-head with the Kansas City Chiefs at Super Bowl LVII in Arizona at the weekend.

It will mark her first solo performance since 2017.

Speaking at an Apple Music press conference on Thursday, Rihanna - who welcomed her first child with rapper boyfriend A$AP Rocky in May last year - revealed that she agreed to the show just three months after giving birth and feared she would regret making the decision so quickly.

She said: “I was like, “Psst, you sure?” I’m three months postpartum, like, should I be making major decisions like this now? Like I might regret this.”