“TV can be really tough”- Ben Shephard speaks out about his brutal sacking.
Ben Shephard has revealed the brutally blunt words he was told after being sacked early in his television career, as he prepares to return to This Morning alongside Cat Deeley following the summer break.
The 51-year-old presenter is now one of ITV’s most familiar faces, fronting This Morning for the past two years after spending a decade on Good Morning Britain.
He also hosts Tipping Point and recently added The Summit to his growing list of television projects.
But Ben has admitted his career could have taken a very different direction after a Channel 4 executive told him he was simply not good enough for television.
‘I Don’t Think You’ll Ever Be Very Good at This’
Ben began presenting The Bigger Breakfast in 1998 alongside Melanie Sykes and Dermot O’Leary.
The youth-focused programme, a spin-off from The Big Breakfast, aired during school holidays on Channel 4 between 1997 and 2000.
Ben was only in his early twenties when he was dismissed from the show.
Recalling the conversation with a television executive, he told The Times: “An exec at Channel 4 basically turned around and said, ‘I don’t think you’re very good at this.’”
The criticism did not stop there.
“‘I don’t think you’ll ever be very good at this. I’m afraid we’re going to have to let you go,’” Ben recalled.
“I was probably in my early twenties.”
Despite the harsh assessment, Ben refused to give up on broadcasting.
He went on to work on programmes including The Xtra Factor and Sky Sports’ Goals on Sunday before becoming a regular presence on ITV.
‘Television Can Still Be Really, Really Tough’
Looking back, Ben believes the television industry has changed significantly since he first entered it.
He said decisions were once made by senior figures with little expectation that they would need to explain themselves.
“We grew up in an environment where decisions were made by people that had the power to make them and they didn’t have to explain them,” he said.
Ben acknowledged that television remains a difficult industry, but said he believes modern workplaces have become more collaborative.
“[Television] can still be really, really tough,” he said.
“But I’d like to think it’s a more inclusive, collaborative environment than it was.”
His career since that early dismissal has ultimately proved the Channel 4 executive’s prediction wrong.
Ben has now said he hopes to continue presenting This Morning for many more years.
Ben and Cat Return After Summer Break
Ben and Cat are due back on the ITV daytime programme on Monday, September 7, following their extended summer break.
A rotating group of presenters covered the programme in their absence, including Christine Lampard and Andi Peters.
One of those temporary hosting stints became the subject of controversy last week after guest Miriam Margolyes made remarks to Andi about his skin tone and ethnicity during an awkward live exchange.
Margolyes asked Andi what accent would be “normal” for him before questioning his background.
After suggesting he was “a mix,” she used the term “high yella,” prompting Andi to respond that he “didn’t even know there were shades.”
The expression, sometimes spelled “high yellow,” is defined by Merriam-Webster as dated and often offensive slang referring to a Black person with a lighter complexion.
The incident attracted attention during a period when This Morning was already operating with a changing line-up of presenters.
Now, Ben and Cat are preparing to resume their regular positions on the sofa.
For Ben, the return comes with the perspective of someone whose career once appeared uncertain after being told he might never succeed in television.
Nearly three decades later, he remains one of the industry’s most established presenters, with the setback he suffered in his twenties now standing as a striking contrast to the career that followed.
