Exclusive:
Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard are set to be announced as the two new permanent hosts of ITV's This Morning and will finally replace Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby
Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard will be announced as the new presenters of This Morning next month, The Mirror can reveal.
The pair will become the permanent replacements for Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, despite reports last month claiming that Cat, married to comedian Patrick Kielty, had “turned down” the job offer. A plan for the pair to do a photoshoot together, in Miami, was put on ice last week, because of schedule issues. It is now expected that their launch pictures for This Morning, which need to be taken ahead of the official announcement, will be shot later this month along with other trails and promotions for the show.
Cat already has a home in London with her husband and their two children Milo, eight, and six-year-old James, and travels to the US when she is working. The former model, 47, was in Las Vegas where she is finalising filming on her long-running series So You Think You Can Dance? while Ben, 49, was hosting on Good Morning Britain.
One insider said: “The cat’s out of the bag - they are the new dream team. ITV is planning to announce Cat and Ben as their new star pairing in March. Obviously Ben is well known and loved by the ITV daytime audience thanks to his many years on the breakfast sofa. Cat is also a very recognisable face, thanks to her long stint of working on kids’ TV, although she’s been over in the US for a long time.
“Back in the 90s and early 2000s, when she worked with Ant and Dec on SMTV Live, she was very warm and funny so it’s hoped they can recreate some of that magic together. People were very impressed with her guest presenting stint last year alongside Rylan and thankfully the timing has all come together. Everyone is delighted.”
The pair are expected to follow in the footsteps of Holly and Phil, who hosted the show from Monday to Thursday during term-time, and took the summer months off. Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond look set to continue as the show’s regular Friday and school holiday presenters.
Shephard will be a tough loss for Good Morning Britain, where he regularly presents alongside his former GMTV sidekick Kate Garraway, plus Susanna Reid and Ranvir Singh. But the show has had rotating presenters since the sudden departure of Piers Morgan in 2021.
Ben, who has two teenage sons with wife Annie, is one of ITV’s most popular presenters thanks to his long presenting stints on GMTV followed by GMB, having started on Channel 4 with The Bigger Breakfast. He also fronts gameshow Tipping Point, and other series he’s presented over the years include Ninja Warrior, Xtra Factor and What’s Cooking?
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Schofield, 61, left This Morning under a cloud in May after admitting to an affair with a younger colleague which he had repeatedly denied. The lies had caused weeks of tension with former pal Holly. She was expected to stay on but then quit a few months later following threats made to her family. Holly, 42, has since returned to Dancing on Ice, which she now presents alongside Stephen Mulhern.
In November Kielty, took over as presenter of Irish TV institution The Late, Late Show from host of 14 years Ryan Tubridy, at the end of November. He now presents the live show every Friday night. The pair had become friends in 2002 when they worked together on BBC singing show Fame Academy but their relationship took another decade to blossom - they married after a whirlwind romance in 2012.
Former model Deeley, from West Bromwich in the West Midlands, has fronted So You Think You Can Dance since 2006. The series she is finishing now, the show’s 17th, is expected to be her last. Last year, Cat helped to fill in the gap left by Willoughby following her departure in October. Her co-host Rylan quickly pointed out that this was not her first time on This Morning, and she admitted that she’d nearly forgotten her one previous stint.
“It was about 20 years ago, and it was Cilla Black’s 60th birthday. I hosted the show with Paul O’Grady and we gave Cilla her bus pass,” she laughed. ITV declined to comment.