ITV has confirmed that Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley are to join This Morning as regular presenters.
The pair will present the Monday-Thursday shows from March, while Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary will continue to host on Fridays.
Ben Shephard said:
“This really feels like a very special moment for Cat and I to be part of the next chapter of This Morning. It’s an honour to be trusted with the reins, join Alison and Dermot and all the team that work on and off screen and do such a great job.
“For the last ten years I’ve been waking up with our ITV daytime audience on GMB and I now look forward to spending time with Cat, welcoming the viewers home after the school run or from their early morning routines, with a cup of tea and a mix of everything that makes This Morning so loved.”
The news was announced in a promo on This Morning’s social media pages, showing Ben walking down the familiar This Morning production corridor and placing a new photo of Cat on the wall, before turning to the camera as the photo comes to life – with Cat giving viewers one of her signature winks.
Cat Deeley said:
“This Morning is a national institution. Whenever it’s on, it’s like having your friends over – funny, smart, silly, heartfelt, informative and joyful – like all the greatest friendships! This Morning is and always will be the viewer’s show. Ben and I both know how much people love it, and with the help of an amazing team of people, we’re going to do our best to take care of it.”
The show’s Editor, Martin Frizell added: “We can’t wait to welcome Ben and Cat fully into the fold next month and witness the start of another exciting chapter in the show’s 35 year journey.”
Ben and Cat join at a time the programme looks for stability after a couple of years of scandal after scandal concerning former hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Scofield, the latter who left following revelations of a ‘legal but unwise’ affair with a much younger man who worked on the series. Earlier issues saw Holly and Phillip offend viewers by thinking the programme was some kind of Newsnight and worthy of queue-jumping at the late Queen Elizabeth’s lying-in-state. While This Morning gains much social media traction, BBC One’s daytime offerings rate higher than the ITV output.
