This Morning remember Sam Rubin

ITV Daytime paid tribute to the personality who had been part of This Morning since 2016…

On today’s This Morning, hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard were joined live from New York by Ross King as they remembered the show’s Hollywood Reporter Sam Rubin, who sadly passed away on Friday. Reminiscing on Sam’s career and how special Sam was to the show’s ‘family’, Ben said he will be “dearly missed”. 

Describing him as “the best in the biz”, Cat added: “Having started here at This Morning in 2016, Sam brought with him his knowledge and expertise to share the latest from Hollywood with us and he wore his skills so lightly” before sharing his highlights on the show.

This Morning: Ross King pays tribute to Sam Rubin

Asking Ross how Sam’s family are, he revealed: “They are obviously completely devastated. I believe that his son will possibly be speaking on KTLA later today. Our thoughts go out to Leslie and the children. I can’t even begin to imagine what they are going through and again, it was just that shock. On Thursday, he was there on air being Sam as usual and then Friday morning he was gone. That’s the shock.” 

Ross described the news as being “such a sad time” and admitted: “You saw the report and you thought ‘No, this just can’t be true’. I had been with Sam at the Oscars just a couple of months ago and we chatted as we always did. We were great pals and I was so lucky that when I joined KTLA myself, we worked together for six years and he was so helpful and insightful.

This Morning: Sam Rubin appears on the Royal Wedding special with Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford

“He was the local boy so anything you wanted to know about Hollywood, he could certainly tell you. Within the business, we would have these chats where he would say to me, ‘Ross, they all seem very friendly but let me tell you, they would eat their young!’ and it was such a good bit of advice. That mischievousness, he would try and get you to do the most outrageous things and try to get you in trouble and then go, ‘Not my fault’. But, he had that wealth of experience which is so rare in the business at times… He had an absolute art.” 

Ross said: “I still can’t [believe it]. I get lost for words at times. He was just a lovely man… This is what seems strange and I was thinking about this on the way into the studio here in New York – Sam would have loved this. I hope Sammy, you’re looking down and seeing how much love there is for you, because it’s remarkable. Sam loved being Sam and he loved being on camera – and he was loved. I just hope he can see it. I hope he can see the love that he’s got from the industry. That people are talking about him so much that it’s making such big news, and the outpouring of grief from people within the industry and the stars that loved him as well. Sammy would have loved this.” 

This Morning: Sam Rubin has fun with Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield

Sharing some of the glowing tributes from A-listers that knew him best, including Jamie Lee Curtis, Ryan Reynolds, Ben Stiller and Reece Witherspoon to name just a few, Ross added: “It’s an incredible legacy… I’m going to miss him so much. I have spoken to a couple of his colleagues there at KTLA and it’s a devastating loss. He will be remembered so well, so fondly and all the accolades that are coming out now are so well deserved.” 

This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1, STV, STV Player and ITVX