Alison Hammond's hunky boyfriend David Putnam reportedly quit Russia in December 2022 to avoid being called up to his country's conflict with Ukraine.
The 26-year-old potentially faced the prospect of having to join Vladimir Putin's forces, but was able to flee to London due to his British citizenship through his English dad, David senior. Russia began conscripting thousands of young men in September 2022 from its bank of military reservists.
Later in London, meanwhile, This Morning star Alison met 6ft 10in David after booking him for a £150 massage session. The pair hit it off immediately, prompting the presenter to use his services regularly over the course of a year.
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David, who is also a trained body therapist and model, is believed to have become smitten with Alison during that time - despite their 23-year age gap.
One of his pals claimed that won't be in an issue in their romance, however, after telling the Sun: "David is a very quiet, unassuming and thoughtful person who likes to play the guitar. He’s the strong, silent type, not a pushover, but not chatty like Alison."
They continued: "In that sense they’re perfect for each other and to David age is just a number. He’s not bothered by fame, he probably didn’t even know who Alison was when they first met."
The friend went on to describe "baby-faced" David as "very personable and genuine" - and someone who has "never had trouble" attracting women. David's dad is a retired welder and panel beater originally from Berkshire.
He met Russian architect architect Olga Kovalenko after divorcing his first wife, with the pair going on to have twin boys Apollo and Sviatoslov, before David was born three years later. Although Apollo and Sviatoslov were born in England, the family soon moved to Russia where David was born at the dawn of the new millennium.
A friend of the family told the same publication: "When David was a kid his dad would spend half the year in Russia and half in England so David always had a connection to this country and wanted to get to know his family.
“When the war in Ukraine began David’s mother Olga began to worry. She didn’t want her boys dragged into it. She wanted them safe like any mother would."
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