The Harsh and Painful End of the GMTV Era – Eamonn Holmes, Lorraine Kelly, Ben Shephard – ITV’s Ruthless Overhaul.
Sixteen-years have passed since ITV brought the curtain down on GMTV, the breakfast-time staple watched by millions of early-rising Brits as they tucked into their cornflakes.
But while its core presenting team remain active, there are genuine concerns that the tall shadow cast by its old guard will soon vanish without trace after ITV unveiled plans to cut Lorraine Kelly‘s morning show by thirty minutes.
The decision follows former GMTV stalwart Eamonn Holmes‘ ongoing battle with chronic back problems and Ben Shephard‘s decision to leave breakfast TV for a new challenge as host of This Morning.
But where did it all go wrong for Britain’s best loved presenting team?
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ITV CUTBACKS
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Sixteen-years have passed since ITV brought the curtain down on GMTV, the breakfast-time staple watched by millions of early-rising Brits as they tucked into their cornflakes
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There are genuine concerns that the tall shadow cast by its old guard will soon vanish without trace after ITV unveiled plans to cut Lorraine Kelly ‘s morning show by thirty minutes
Kelly, a network veteran who made her debut as host of the now defunct Good Morning Britain in 1984, has been hosting Lorraine – a show built entirely around the Scottish presenter – for more than 15-years.
But her future with the network is understood to be in doubt as a result of money-saving cut-backs made by ITV across their daytime schedule.
Lorraine and Loose Women have been axed for half the year and Lorraine’s runtime has been slashed by 30 minutes, as ITV Daytime bosses announced huge cuts today with job losses in excess of 220.
Kelly faced the brunt of the cuts with Good Morning Britain now taking her 9-10am slot for 22 weeks of the year.
For the remaining 30 weeks of the year, Lorraine will present five days a week, meaning her Friday stand-in presenters Ranvir Singh and Christine Lampard are no longer needed for the show.
Kelly, who recently underwent surgery and shares hosting duties with a rotating stable of celebrity presenters, is yet to publicly comment on the sweeping changes.
Her show has also been slashed in half, now running for just 30 minutes from 9:30am to 10am.
ITV sources told MailOnline that they have decided to cut resources on their daytime schedule so that the network can invest in more drama programmes.
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Kelly has been hosting Lorraine – a show built entirely around the Scottish presenter – for more than 15-years
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The presenter is a network veteran who made her debut as host of the now defunct Good Morning Britain in 1984
Lorraine and Loose Women AXED for half the year
One said: ‘There is a need to cost save but also so that the right money can go to the right shows and with everything getting more expensive these things have to be looked at.’
The source added: ‘Christine and Ranvir remain part of the ITV daytime family.’
This Morning, whose presenters include Alison Hammond, Ben Shephard, and Cat Deeley, remains untouched.
It was also announced today that ITV Studios will no longer make Good Morning Britain but instead it will be made by ITN – the organisation which makes ITV News.
A source told The Mirror: ‘There are genuine fears among staff that Lorraine may decide to walk if the quality of the show they are putting out declines.
‘It’s hard to see how standards won’t fall….and there are questions over whether Lorraine will want to be associated with that.
‘Lorraine and her team are perfectionists – it’s why the show is loved by so many.’
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But with Lorraine now working part-time, Christine Lampard has stepped in to fill a percentage of her shows
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Ranvir Singh is another part-time host, but both she and Lampard will see their roles axed by ITV as part of sweeping money-saving measures
It’s understood that Kelly hosted only 60 percent of episodes of her namesake ITV show in 2024, often being replaced by alternate hosts Christine and Ranvir.
Her notable absence inspired social media account ‘Where is Lorraine?’ – which shares updates on who is hosting the programme each day.
It also shares ‘Bonus Lorraine’ updates when the presenter appears on different shows while absent from her own.
And to round out the year, the account shared its ‘Lorraine Wrapped’ – which revealed she has hosted just 59.7 per cent of this year’s episodes, which equates to just 154 out of 258.
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It’s understood that Kelly hosted only 60 percent of episodes of her namesake ITV show in 2024, often being replaced by alternate hosts Christine and Ranvir
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Her notable absence inspired social media account ‘Where is Lorraine?’ – which shares updates on who is hosting the programme each day
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To round out 2024, the account shared its ‘Lorraine Wrapped’ – which revealed she has hosted just 59.7 percent of this year’s episodes, which equates to just 154 out of 258
Impressively, the Wrapped showed that the most episodes Lorraine hosted in a row throughout 2024 was just eight.
A graphic shared on X revealed the presenter who most often stepped in for Lorraine was Christine with 52 episodes (20.2%), followed by Ranvir with 49 (19%).
Meanwhile Joel Dommett and Louise Minchin both hosted two episodes (0.8%) and Andi Peters took the reigns for just one (0.4%).
EAMONN’S HEALTH WOES
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Kelly’s former ITV colleague Eamonn Holmes has sparked concern over his escalating health battle, after falling off his chair on live TV
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As the camera focused on commentator Charlie Rowley at 6:15am, a crash could be heard off screen and the broadcaster’s co-host Ellie Costello exclaimed ‘oh my gosh’
Kelly’s former ITV colleague Eamonn Holmes has sparked concern over his escalating health battle, after falling off his chair on live TV.
The veteran producer, 65, was presenting his regular breakfast show on GB News when he suddenly toppled off his chair while the cameras were on guest speaker, Charlie Rowley.
Holmes could then be heard saying: ‘I’m fine, fine fine, carry on, carry on,’ before the show cut to an advertisement break.
The show resumed with Holmes explaining to his co-host Ellie Costello that he fell because of the ‘wonky wheels’ on the studio chairs.
The incident comes just weeks after he was rushed to hospital in an ambulance, after suffering a fall at his home in Weybridge on 2 May.
He shared a photo on Instagram of the inside of an ambulance revealing: ‘An unexpected journey this morning… bit of a fall on the bathroom floor. Gosh it hurts. Thank you ambulance crew.’
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Holmes is pictured during his breakfast TV heyday in the early 2000s
Eamonn Holmes fell off his chair live on air
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The TV personality was rushed to hospital earlier this month when he suffered a fall in his home in Weybridge. He shared the details of the scare with his 776,000 Instagram followers
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Eamonn has been very open about his journey, and follows a strict physiotherapy regime
In a later post, he said: ‘Not how I wanted to be spending The Holiday weekend…but life is not easy these days.
Now, MailOnline details the lengthy ordeal the presenter has suffered with various health conditions, beginning with chronic back pain nearly 40 years ago.
Holmes now relies on a wheelchair, walking frame and crutches due to chronic back pain.
The presenter put off having a hip replacement until he was 55-years-old, in 2016, and has suffered multiple setbacks since then, including a dislocated pelvis and three slipped discs.
He has previously opened up about his ongoing health battle on social media.
‘Even when the sun shines, there’s pain’, he posted to Instagram. ‘Sometimes I feel i’ll never beat this disc immobility but I’m determined to have a life… so pray for me, help me or get out of the way social media haters’, he added.
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Eamonn detailed his battle with shingles in 2018 and how he was struck with the virus on his son Declan’s wedding day
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The pain become so severe that it left Eamonn reliant on a walking stick, but soon found out the root cause
Holmes underwent a double hip replacement in 2016, in a surgery that lasted over three hours, hoping that it would alleviate his chronic back pain.
The surgery involves replacing damaged parts of the hip joint with metal, plastic or ceramic parts and is most commonly used to treat pain and stiffness in the joint.
In 2018, the presenter faced yet another agonising diagnosis, which could have left him blind, after suffering severe stress over a £250,000 tax row.
Shingles is caused by the varicella zoster virus—a member of the herpes family that most people contract as children, and also causes chickenpox.
Once a person is infected, the virus stays dormant in the body but can, if the immune system is temporarily weakened, reactivate.
Describing the illness, the TV star told The Mirror: ‘I was like a lamb to the slaughter—it was the most stressful, humiliating experience.’
‘It was scary to see it. It looked as if someone had taken a baseball bat to my face and smashed me about a bit.’
Holmes’ chronic back pain started in spring 2021, which he said came out of nowhere.
The pain was so severe that he became reliant on a walking stick, before finally finding out the cause of the excruciating pain.
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In September 2022, Eamonn was forced to step away from his GB news show as he underwent vital back surgery to aid his chronic back pain (pictured pushed by his son in February 2023)
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Eamonn has undergone multiple surgeries to try and alleviate his chronic back pain
The TV personality had suffered three slipped discs, which affected his range of motion in his right leg.
He said: ‘I still thought it would go away, but it didn’t. The knock-on effect was that I lost a lot of use in my right leg.’
Holmes eventually underwent spinal surgery in 2022, after he was forced to take a step back from his job as a presenter for GB News.
His battle with chronic back pain started after a dislocated pelvis led to three slipped discs.
Following his surgery, he revealed that despite physiotherapy, his lack of mobility still stops him from doing simple things, forcing him to rely on others.
His spinal surgery left him with a weakened left leg, and just over two weeks into his recovery from the operation, he fell backwards down 18 stairs at his Weybridge home, landing on hard stone flooring.
The horrific accident, which he said could have killed him, left him with a broken shoulder, and his legs further weakened.
Just a year after his spinal surgery, Holmes underwent a spine and neck stretching procedure in September 2023 after admitting that he couldn’t walk.
He said that, following his spinal surgery, his condition had significantly.
‘I can’t run, I can’t walk, I can’t do anything except watch TV and eat’, he explained at the time.
RED MORNING, SHEPHARD’S WARNING
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Ben Shephard bid farewell to breakfast TV in March 2024 after being recruited to clear up the mess left by Phillip Schofield and his abrupt departure from This Morning
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The presenter originally joined ITV in 2000, hosting GMTV’s Entertainment Today segment with Jenni Falconer before becoming the main stand-in presenter for GMTV Today
This Morning in chaos as cameraman falls and guest caught on phone
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In 2014, the father-of-two became the face of Good Morning Britain and continued his role on the show until he said his goodbyes on Friday, 23, February, 2024 (pictured with Susanna Reid)
Ben Shephard bid farewell to breakfast TV in March 2024 after being recruited to clear up the mess left by Phillip Schofield and his abrupt departure from This Morning.
The presenter originally joined ITV in 2000, presenting GMTV’s Entertainment Today segment with Jenni Falconer before becoming the main stand-in presenter for GMTV Today.
When Holmes departed from the iconic show, he became the permanent co-host on GMTV Today every Monday and Tuesday and then on alternate Wednesdays.
After making the transition to Good Morning Britain in 2014, Shephard announced his departure last year, favouring the later start and a new role on This Morning.
The news was confirmed via a bespoke promo on This Morning’s Twitter, showing the presenter as he walked down the familiar This Morning production corridor and placing a new photo of co-host Cat Deeley on the wall before turning to the camera as the photo comes to life.
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Shephard said goodbye to GMB after spending the last two decades chatting away with Kate Garraway on its famous sofa (pictured)
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He now presents ITV daytime show This Morning alongside co-host Cat Deeley (pictured)
He 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 reigns, 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.’
FIONA’S DEMENTIA BATTLE
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Fiona Phillips became a household name thanks to her regular hosting roles on GMTV Today and ITV Breakfast (pictured: Phillips alongside Eamonn Holmes)
Fiona Phillips became a household name thanks to her regular hosting roles on GMTV Today and ITV Breakfast.
She eventually made the move to daytime show Loose Women as its regular anchor in 2009, while making periodic guest appearances as host of Lorraine.
But her world was rocked when she was told she had Alzheimer’s in 2022 – the same degenerative condition that affected both her parents – and is already struggling with lapses in her memory.
Fiona will open up about her life with Alzheimer’s in a new book, Remember When, with the help of her husband, former This Morning editor Martin Frizell, through publishers Pan Macmillan on July 3.
She explained: ‘I hope this book can show people a little about what it is like to live with Alzheimer’s.
‘How frightening and confusing it is. But also how much life can still bring joy and be valued. And if you or someone you love is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, I hope this book brings you some comfort. I want you to know, you are not alone.’
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Her world was rocked when she was told she had Alzheimer’s in 2022 – the same degenerative condition that affected both her parents – and is already struggling with lapses in her memory
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The former breakfast TV presenter will open up about her life with Alzheimer’s in a new book, Remember When, with the help of her husband, former This Morning editor Martin Frizell, through publishers Pan Macmillan on July 3
She is set to discuss early warning signs and her gradual loss of memory and confusion in the book, while her husband also shares his experience.
Following her diagnosis she revealed she was put on a drugs trial in an attempt to slow down the symptoms, something which she says appears to be working for her.
In a previous interview with Women&Home magazine, Fiona said: ‘I’m on a clinical trial and the signs are positive.
‘I’m taking part in a revolutionary drug trial that’s trying to find a cure. It involves a brand-new drug and a placebo, and I have no idea which one I’m on.
‘When I went for my six-month check-up in October, they did cognitive tests to see where my brain was at, which showed that I was in the same place as I was the previous year.
‘I’m hopeful that the drug is holding the disease where it is. I’d rather not have to be on the trial but I’m very grateful I am.
2008: In tears Fiona Phillips says goodbye on her last day on GMTV
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Alzheimer’s also killed her mother Amy in 2006, after she began experiencing symptoms in her early 50s
‘There are risks, including bleeding on the brain, so I’m a guinea pig, but there’s a real chance it could help.’
Fiona, who has two sons with Martin, stunned her millions of fans when she revealed that like both of her parents, she had Alzheimer’s.
Yet the star says she is ‘pretending’ that she doesn’t have the illness so she can carry on enjoying her life.
She still meets friends for coffee and goes for walks, though admitted that Mark- her husband of 26 years – worries about her when he’s working.
‘I know I can still have a great life. I’m just getting on with things. I’m pretending it hasn’t happened and not giving it any space in my life at the moment. Or as little as I can. I’ve still got so much I want to do.
‘I know Martin worries about what I’m doing when he’s at work or has to go out in the evening, and whether I’m eating. But this isn’t me now. I’m not about to give up. I’ve still got so much to look forward to.’
