Ben Shephard took a withering swipe at Cat Deeley after the presenter was replaced by a familiar face on This Morning on Tuesday.

The TV presenter, who is normally joined by Cat, 49, from Monday to Thursday, instead found himself hosting the show alongside Alison Hammond.

Alison, 50, normally joins Dermot O’Leary in presenting the show on Fridays, but was brought in to stand in for Cat, who did not appear on the ITV daytime series.

Issuing a withering swipe in Cat’s direction, Ben, 50, joked that having Alison by his side for the first time was his ‘Christmas wish’.

Noting the change as the duo first appeared on screen, Ben joked: ‘How about this, Alison Hammond?’ to which she responded: ‘What am I doing here, what is going on?’

‘I wondered what it was, I was in bed, I was having a little sleep, and then all of sudden I was here,’ Alison joked.

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Ben Shephard has taken a withering swipe at Cat Deeley after the presenter was replaced by a familiar face on This Morning on Tuesday’s show

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The TV presenter, who is normally joined by Cat, 49, from Monday to Thursday, instead found himself hosting the show alongside Alison Hammond

Ben replied with a cheeky jibe: ‘Christmas wishes do come true, that’s all I’ll say. Our first time together – you never forget your first time, Alison!’

It was not revealed why Cat was taking a day off from hosting duties during the show, but it comes only a matter of months since her shock split from husband Patrick Kielty.

The TV host, 48, and Irish comedian, 54, who share sons Milo, nine, and James, seven, announced the end of their 12-year marriage last month during her summer break from the ITV show, stressing that ‘no other party’ was involved.

She was said to be anxious ahead of her This Morning return in August amid fears she’s been painted as the villain in her split.

Cat was said to be battling nerves after weeks of trolls as well as her ex’s own family blaming her for the split.

Patrick’s relatives are still seething over her failure to attend his beloved mother’s funeral in March. Her spokesperson told Daily Mail at the time: ‘Cat remained at home to be there for her two young children before and after school on this very sad day.’

Now, ahead of her TV return a source said: ‘Cat feels anxious ahead of her first day back after announcing the bombshell news of her split during her break’.

‘She has been hurt that people who don’t even know her have judged her for not going to her mother-in-law’s funeral in March. Even people from within Patrick’s family and inner circle who don’t know her well have criticised her for that.’

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Issuing a withering swipe in Cat’s direction, Ben, 50, joked that having Alison by his side for the first time was his ‘ Christmas wish’

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Alison, 50, normally joins Dermot O’Leary in presenting the show on Fridays, but was brought in to stand in for Cat, who did not appear on the ITV daytime series

They told The Sun: ‘[And to] and make out that it was the reason for the split when that couldn’t be further from the truth. Cat is generally a really positive person but it hurts her to have people piling the blame onto her when this is a painful situation for them both.’

Meanwhile on This Morning on Tuesday, Ben and Alison met a woman who lives in constant pain and takes an hour every morning to get out of bed has revealed what it’s really like living with size 36M breasts.

Battling through a crippling sore back, which makes her unable to lift up her eight-month-old daughter, Melissa Ashcroft took to the ITV show to reveal the realities of having a larger chest as she crowd funds for breast reduction surgery.

Melissa, 30, spoke candidly about the horrifying affects of her large breasts which have ‘ruined her life’ since puberty.

The mother-of-one revealed that while she was not larger chested as a young teen, when she did develop breasts, they continued to grow for many years, now weighing more than a stone each.

By the time Melissa was 20, her breasts were so large that she would develop aches and pains, and have ‘cuts’ left in her skin from her bra straps holding up her chest.

She said: ‘By the time I was in college, that’s when it was just getting ridiculous – the pains I was getting in my shoulders, I was getting cuts from my bra straps.

 ‘I thought, “This can’t continue, it can’t go on”. I’ve got a slipped disc because of it.’

This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1 and ITVX.