This Morning's New Presenters

Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley to join the This Morning family next month. 

Updated: 6 March 2024:

Ben and Cat will join This Morning from Monday 11th March at 10am on ITV1 & ITVX

What are you most looking forward to about presenting This Morning?

Ben Shephard: That is quite a question, there is so much! Not having to get up so early and to be able to have a lie in is quite high up there. But seriously it has to be the people. From the team to the guests to, of course, Cat - it’s all about the people. I’ve worked with many of the team on and off but to work with them full time is very exciting. 

Cat Deeley: As I’ve previously 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!

What does This Morning mean to you?

BS: Like so many people, This Morning is the programme I grew up watching when Richard and Judy used to host it – two icons on the daytime sofa. I first got to host the show with the lovely Fern Britton. I was a last-minute call up and I remember sitting on the bus on the way home, daydreaming about the fact I’d just hosted it and what a moment that was for me. 

I vividly remember driving over Blackfriars’ Bridge, being on the top of the 63 bus and looking down at the river, daydreaming, and thinking, ‘Crikey I just hosted This Morning’. Now, here I am 20 years later and I’m going to be doing it every day.

That means a lot. I understand how important it is as a show to our viewers – they are an integral part. Every time I’ve stepped in to host the show, something extraordinary happens. The engagement from the viewers is like nothing else.

Viewers watch the show in a very different way – they sit down with a cup of tea and enjoy every bit of it. They are engaged with debates, they love the cooking items, they really enjoy the human interest stories, which is a really important part of the show – it’s a very present audience. 

CD: I can’t wait to be a part of the team, from the crew and producers, to the brilliant presenters. I’ve been hosting solo for the past few years and I’ve really missed that sense of camaraderie, it will be great to be a part of such an incredible team.

Have you ever worked together before? 

BS: We’ve never been lucky enough to work together. I’ve taken a lot of penalties against her husband though and he’s yet to save one! 

I’m a huge fan of Cat’s – I have been for many, many years - she’s clearly a brilliant broadcaster. I loved waking up to her on a Saturday morning so the chance to work together in the week is really fun. 

CD: Would you believe we first met on the football pitch. It was a charity game with professional footballers and celebrities. Needless to say Ben was fairly nifty and athletic… I however, was just trying to stay upright. Strangely there was no call from Fergie!

What are you most looking forward to about working with each other?

BS: It’s always really exciting when you start working with somebody new. Cat has extraordinary experience from working in America on some incredible shows – so I’ll be getting all the inside info on how things work on the other side of the Atlantic. She’s also a mum of two young boys so I’ll be vicariously reliving my boy's childhood through them. 

CD: Ben is a true gentleman, an incredible presenter and a great journalist. No one handles live TV better; he makes it look effortless. He’s funny and whip smart, I can’t wait to go to work every day and do a job I love.

How excited are you to join the This Morning family?

BS: This Morning is my dream combination of a lie in, eating cheesecakes and working with a fantastic team! 

I’m really excited, I‘ve loved the show for years and it feels a real privilege to be there Monday to Thursday.

I adore Alison Hammond and I’ve worked with her on many occasions when we’ve been on This Morning together. I started my TV career many years ago with Dermot O’Leary on Channel 4 so it’s lovely that we’re both back as part of the same family all these years later – albeit as dads with a little less hair and more wrinkles! 

CD: Nothing sets you up for the weekend quite like Alison and Dermot! I’m the dynamic duo’s biggest fan… 

What is it about live Daytime television that you most enjoy?

Ben Shephard: It’s really intimate – it’s a very special time of the day to broadcast and I’m going from waking people up to welcoming them back from the school run. 

It’s an important part of the day, to set people up and to share what’s going on in the world and hopefully make people laugh, smile, move them and engage them. 

There is a real loyalty, familiarity and ownership that our viewers have. Daytime viewers are so interwoven into the fabric of the programmes that they watch. I’ve had it of course from GMB and also on Tipping Point and now This Morning. They are front and centre of everything we do. 

Cat Deeley: I’m looking forward to being live for a couple of hours every day. Anything can happen and it probably will! 

Is there anything you’ll do to prepare for your first day on This Morning together? 

BS: This is a job that I’ve been lucky enough to host many times over the last twenty years so hopefully people will feel like it’s a nice fit so I’ll keep doing what I’ve done before – I’ll have my tea in a different mug though of course! 

CD: Think to myself, just enjoy every moment - from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Do you have a message for This Morning viewers at home? 

BS: This Morning viewers have always been incredibly generous and lovely on the previous times I’ve presented, and I hope there will be a warm welcome for myself and Cat, I’m really looking forward to being part of their morning routine. 

CD: As I’ve previously said, This Morning is and always will be the viewer’s show… Ben and I both know how much people love it, with the help of an amazing team of people, we’re going to do our best to take care of it. 

Do you have a favourite This Morning moment? 

BS: There are so many! Alison pushing the guy off the weather map is up there and of course Richard dressed as Ali G. People still regularly send me the ‘willy wanging’ clip with Holly and it still makes me cry with laughter.

CD: Hosting with Paul O’Grady for Cilla's birthday was pretty epic - there were plenty of bubbles that day! But I still laugh out loud every time I see the Gino clip about the carbonara and ‘If my grandmother had wheels…’ 

Who would be your dream sofa guest?

BS: The dream sofa guest is a very difficult one but in terms of items, I’m looking forward to all of it. 

I think the idea of having gorgeous, delicious food made for me at work – I’m not going to lie was a key driver in my decision. The fun and the energy and the joy that comes in the This Morning studio is infectious – the games, the celebrities, the items from fashion to health and everything in between.

But unquestionably the element I’m most inspired by is the people who come in with their story to tell because they are passionate, because they can make change. It is something that daytime TV does brilliantly, that This Morning does brilliantly. 

I’ve seen the difference it makes first-hand with campaigners changing the landscape, changing the law. 

All of these elements make This Morning the special programme it is and it’s a privilege to be part of it. 

CD: Any guests that make me look ‘cool’ to my boys! Milo and James are eight and five, they love David Attenborough, Bear Grylls, Marcus Rashford and Steve Backshall. Steve was on a show I was covering, and he kindly helped with a project Milo was doing about Pink River Dolphins. The excitement was on another level!

Additional Ben Shephard quote: 

“I’ve loved hosting Good Morning Britain over the past 10 years since it launched. When I left GMTV, I always swore I’d never go back because of the early mornings and it goes to show how wrong I was.

I’m grateful that my extended GMB family is only next door so that whenever I get nostalgic, I know I’m not going to being far away. Although I’ll miss being on screen with them, my later starts mean I may be able to hang out with them all a bit more!

One of the hardest decisions of course is knowing that my mornings with Kate, my on-screen wife of nearly 20 years, is coming to an end. Her journey has been well documented, and I think we would all agree how remarkable she has been over the last four years. I won’t miss the mess but I’ve learned so much from her, as I have from all of the people I’ve been lucky enough to work alongside.”

***

ITV’s flagship and longest running daytime show, This Morning, today announces Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley are to join the This Morning family, next month. 

The news was announced via a bespoke 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!

Expressing their joy of joining the This Morning presenting team on a regular basis, Ben 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.”

Cat added:

“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.” 

Ben and Cat will make their debut hosting This Morning next month and will front the Monday to Thursday shows, with Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary on Fridays. 

This Morning’s Editor, Martin Frizell said:

“The team and I have relished the opportunity to try new things these past few months and remind viewers what a massively talented team both on and off screen we have here at This Morning. 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.”

Managing Director, ITV Studios Daytime, Emma Gormley added:

“I feel immensely proud of everyone working on This Morning - for a programme that has evolved many times over the last 35 years, it remains just as relevant and exciting as ever. We are thrilled to have Ben and Cat as our new This Morning hosts and cannot wait to see them on that famous sofa together soon.”

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