DECODING the real reason Ben Shephard left his ‘Work Wife’ Kate Garraway at Good Morning Britain to join This Morning with Cat Deeley.
BEN Shephard has admitted leaving Good Morning Britain co-star Kate Garraway was the ‘hardest decision’ when accepting his This Morning role.
ITV stalwart Ben has swapped early breakfast show GMB for the channel’s mid-morning slot and will partner Cat Deeley.
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Ben Shephard was devastated to leave his ‘work wife’ Kate Garraway on GMBCredit: Rex
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Ben and Cat will host their first show together on MondayCredit: ITV
The duo were officially named as Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby’s permanent successors last month.
Ahead of their first show together on Monday, Ben opened up about saying goodbye to close friend Kate, who he supported through the loss of husband Derek Draper and his four-year health battle.
He told the Mirror’s We Love TV magazine: “Her journey has been well documented and I think we would all agree how remarkable she has been over the last four years.
“I’ve learned so much from her, as I have from all of the people I’ve been lucky enough to work alongside. I’m grateful that my extended GMB family is only next door so whenever I get nostalgic, I know I’m not going to be far away.”
Ultimately, the allure of a later wake-up alarm proved too much.
He said: “This Morning is my dream combination of a lie-in, eating cheesecakes and working with a fantastic team.”
Ben was given a grand farewell from Good Morning Britain two weeks ago.
His co-stars made a special effort to be in the studio for the tribute episode and famous faces of years gone by like John Stapleton and Fiona Phillips recorded sweet video messages for him.
Ben closed the show by saying: “The alarm going off has never been anything I’ve enjoyed. But what I have known is as soon as I get in here, I’m going to be surrounded by you brilliant, incredible, gorgeous, talented, challenging, chaotic, fabulous people that make me better at what I do.
“It’s not lost on me that I wouldn’t be able to do if you lot weren’t amazing and hadn’t been such fabulous friends and colleagues.
Good Morning Britain’s presenters gather to say a fond farewell to Ben Shephard
“I can only cope with this because I know I’m not going very far. These guys are going to carry on doing an incredible job, and I’m going to get a lie in. But in a couple of weeks, I will be able to welcome you back from school run, whatever your morning routine is, with a cup of tea and chat next door.”
Kate kept her words brief so that emotion didn’t get the better of her.
She said: “You’re an incredible person, an incredible friend. You’re an incredible broadcaster, and anyone that works with you loves you.
“But I’m going to miss you. It’s been a very long time. I won’t say any more. But we know that you’re going to be fantastic and we all know that we’re also going to be in your life as friends.”
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Ben and Kate had natural chemistry on screen
