Presenting duo Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley’s future as the hosts of This Morning has been teased, following the news of it’s editor Martin Frizell’s upcoming departure.
Ben, 49, and Cat, 48, took over as the main presenters of the ITV show back in March. The pair replaced its former hosts Holly Willoughby, now 43, and Phillip Schofield, now 62, who both respectively left This Morning last year.
There has been speculation of further changes to the hosting line-up this week following the news that the show’s editor Martin, 65, has decided to step down from his position. Martin – who’s held the role for 10 years – will leave next year and his replacement has yet to be announced.
Amid rumours of a potential shake-up as a result of his departure, it’s now claimed that Ben and Cat will remain as hosts. The Daily Mail reports that they have the ‘full support’ of Kevin Lygo, 67, who is managing director of media and entertainment at ITV.
A source told the outlet: “Kevin was very much behind hiring Cat, along with Martin, they pulled out the stops to get her and there were lots of obstacles.” The source added that Cat is “loved” at ITV and said that bosses “don’t want her to go anywhere”. It was stated that similarly Ben is “loved” by viewers.
The source said: “Martin has known that he would be going for some time now, even when he hired Cat and Ben. Everyone at ITV is thrilled with how things have calmed down since they have taken over, they have steadied the ship and the show is no longer making headlines for the wrong reasons.”
It’s been reported that Cat Deeley (left) and Ben Shephard (right) will remain as hosts This Morning when editor Martin Frizell leaves next year (
Image:
ITV)
Martin announced his departure from his role as editor of This Morning on Wednesday. The editor – whose wife Fiona Phillips, 63, announced last year that she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s – previously worked on Loose Women.
He said in his statement that being an editor for This Morning had been a “privilege” and shared that he would miss his colleagues at ITV once he leaves next spring. He said: “Next year I’m expecting my family priorities to change so I need to free up time for them. I love my team at ITV and will miss them and the thrill of live telly but it’s an always on, 24 hours a day, seven days a week commitment and I won’t be able to do both.”
Martin added: “It’s been a privilege to lead truly great presenters and producers, between us we’ve turned out more than six thousand hours of live topical telly, that’s around 20,000 items and whilst the gongs are always nice.
“I’m most proud of the change we made to so many lives, even saving a fair few with our campaigns on anti suicide, menopause, testicular cancer and ‘how – to’ items. This juggernaut is the toughest test for any broadcast journalist.”
