Alison Hammond is besotted with her son Aiden, but is still haunted over her heartbreaking split from his dad.

Alison Hammond opened up on her split (Image: ITV)

Alison Hammond doesn’t often discuss the relationship she shared with her son’s dad, cabbie Noureddine Boufaied.

However, she has confessed to feeling emotional turmoil and believing she was a “failure” after they parted ways. The former Big Brother star, who has been a mainstay on our screens ever since she first gained fame back in 2002, had a heart-to-heart with singer Paloma Faith after realising she’d experienced a similar situation.

The songstress, who was on This Morning to promote her album The Glorification of Sadness almost a year ago, confessed that the break-up with the dad of her two kids had inspired the creative process. She told Alison and Dermot O’Leary: “It feels very heavy that I broke up with my children’s dad.

“I felt stages of grief and even now two years on I feel this sense of guilt I failed my children, society and what’s expected. The album goes through the stages of grief… [the split] is my biggest failure and my only regret despite being someone who has never regretted anything [before].”

Alison swept in to support her, admitting she’d felt the same at first, but now knew she hadn’t failed. “That doesn’t make you a failure – you are a single mum and a pop star who is smashing life. That is your life and journey and story,” she encouraged.

Alison Hammond and Paloma Faith discussed their love lives (Image: ITV)

“I felt that failure with my son’s dad when we broke up but he moved on and has three other kids now and they are part of our life.”

Fortunately Alison, who was engaged to her partner at age 30 before their split, has managed to remain on good terms with him.

She also feels grateful that they’ve been able to bring a life into the world together, with the separated couple now co-parenting him successfully.

Alison still describes her ex as a “lovely man with a beautiful smile”.

Alison Hammond with her son Aiden, who is now 19 (Image: GETTY)

Both have now moved on and although Alison has famously kept her romances out of the spotlight and away from public scrutiny, she did have two relationships that were relatively public.

She was linked to gardener Ben Hawkins, but they were rarely photographed together.

She then enjoyed a romance with Russian masseur and model David Putman, whom she first announced she was coupled up with earlier in the year.

They are still thought to be together now, despite alleged opposition from some of their loved ones over the age gap; Alison turns 50 soon, while David is 27.