Holly Willoughby replaces Phillip Schofield with Ben Shephard. ITV has announced that Ben Shephard, who has been a hit with viewers since he joined Holly Willoughby to host the ITV Breakfast show, will be replacing Phillip Schofield as his replacement.
In response to rumours that he was swapping GMB for This Morning as a permanent replacement for Schofield, who has been axed from the show, Shephard, 48, has fired back at the claims.
A while back, while chaperoning Susanna Reid at the ITV Pride of Britain Awards, Ben, from Essex, was asked about the possibility of a permanent future with the show.
According to the presenter, he responded as follows: ‘What I can tell you is that I’m gonna be doing some more – I’m gonna be working some more, but I’m just helping out in any case.’ Between now and Christmas, I have some days coming up between now and then.
Willoughby’s new co-host explained: ‘I’m not quite sure what to say about that, but I’m still very, very much part of the team.’
Shephard has appeared to clarify the situation about his role in the show following reports that he could be in line to become Schofield’s permanent replacement on the show.
‘Ben did a great job, and the bosses were really happy with his partnership with Holly, and there was a lot of positive feedback from many different parts of the business. In addition to hosting a variety of shows for ITV, Ben is also known as a very popular personality with the audiences of the shows that he hosts. The public also has a great deal of trust in him, and he is well loved within the ITV organization. The Daily Mail reported that he has hosted so many shows for the channel over the years.
He and Holly have a long history together too – he was a guest on This Morning some years ago and they have a great rapport.”
Having previously acted as a stand-in presenter on the show, covering for Phillip between 2005 and 2011, Ben didn’t keep anything from his fans in the dark. The comments of Gavin Plumb, 36, who was once 30-stone security guard, came just days after he was accused of plotting the kidnap and murder of Holly, just a few months before.
After Scofield’s departure, it was supposed to be built around Holly with rotating co-hosts, just as GMB is with Susanna, but the bosses have changed their minds and now want Holly to have a co-host she can work with most of the time.
According to ITV bosses, the mother-of-three will not be rushed back onto the This Morning sofa by the network in the near future. Since then, she has been placed under police guard at her home where she lives with her husband, Dan Baldwin, and her three children, Harry, 13 years old, Belle, 11 years old, and Chester, eight years old.
There have also been reports that Phillip Schofield has contacted Holly Willoughby to support her amid threats that she has received. It was reported that Holly’s heart was melted by the former This Morning host’s gesture.
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