Go back to sleep: ‘This Morning’ is still a snooze
The ITV programme This Morning has been rudderless – without any permanent presenters – for the past five months.
Holly Willoughby abandoned ship in October, almost half a year after Phillip Schofield quit the programme amid rumours of a rift between the two. It was later revealed that he had lied to ITV bosses about an affair with a younger colleague. Since then, it’s been a carousel of stand-ins. But now This Morning’s era of uncertainty is over.
Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard have been announced as the new permanent presenters. Their CVs are impressive – Deeley made her name in live children’s television before making it big in the States as the Emmy-nominated host of the competition series So You Think You Can Dance.
Shephard earned his mid-morning TV stripes on GMTV, currently hosts Good Morning Britain and has been standing in for Schofield and Willoughby since 2009.
Still… boring, isn’t it?
It’s no secret that This Morning has been on a downward spiral for years. In 2021, more than a million of us would tune in to see what was on the agenda (though it’s perhaps important to note that we were all in lockdown). Now, the audience stands at an average of 800,000. The level of scandal the programme courts is disproportionate to the dwindling pertinence of the series. In other words, it’s a sinking ship.
Installing new permanent presenters was a chance for a new era. And there’s no shortage of young, hot TV talent already in the ITV stable who could easily take the mantle: Big Zuu, Maya Jama, Yinka Bokinni.
But the series has gone too far over the edge of irrelevance to ever return to its glory days – even the expert skills of Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard won’t be able pull off that miracle.