This Morning fans demand Cat and Ben are SACKED and replaced by new hosts – after viewing figures fall
THIS Morning relaunched to great fanfare two months ago, but now fans are already calling for new hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley to be sacked.
The latest blow for ITV’s flagship daytime show, which has had a stormy twelve months following Holly and Phil’s fallout and subsequent departures from the programme, comes as ratings plummeted to just 692.500 in March.
That is the fewest since Holly’s last day on October 10 and lower than Phillip last appeared the previous May, when 767,00 were watching.
Friday hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary seem to be getting the viewer’s vote to take over from Ben and Cat as the main presenters on the show – with fans suggesting that they bring a spontaneous sense of fun that is currently missing.
When Alison posted a picture of her and Dermot dancing on social media, a flurry of people rushed to comment.
One said: “Please you and Dermot to be the main presenters. What is wrong with the producers are they blind? Come bring the fun guys.”
Meanwhile, another said: “I cannot understand why these two aren’t the main hosts. Mind-boggling.”
And another commentator confessed that they are the only reason she switches on.
She said: “I only watch on a Friday now, for these two should be the main presenters.’”
Seasoned presenters Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard were drafted in as part of a big revamp to save the show, after its popularity nose-dived in the aftermath of the Holly and Phil debacle.
But so far the mysterious alchemy that connects a TV show to the viewers seems to be missing and bosses are said to be scratching their heads over how to fix the problem.
A TV insider told The Sun: “The hope was that the new duo would bring back an air of stability and familiarity back to This Morning. It’s still relatively early days, but the signs are not good.
“After the initial flurry of interest on their first day in the job, the viewing figures almost immediately dipped back into six figures.
“ITV bosses will be hoping they can turn things around before the next big milestone date as they’ve so much riding on Ben and Cat being a success.”
Schofield fled This Morning last May after he admitted to having an affair with a much younger runner on the show.
Then in October, Holly sensationally quit following the news of an alleged plot to kidnap and murder her.
For almost six months, producers had a pool of presenters on rotation to keep the daytime ship afloat, including Dermot O’Leary, Alison Hammond, Josie Gibson and Rylan Clark.
In December we revealed how Ben, 49 had quit his job as one of the main presenters on Good Morning Britain to co- anchor with Cat Deeley, 47, making her UK TV comeback after an 18 year absence, working away in the US.
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The handsome telly couple were brought in just as BBC’s Morning Live moved its start date forward to get a head start on This Morning, which resulted in a peak of 1.57 million for the March episode.
Indeed bosses at This Morning insist they are happy with their efforts so far.
A spokesperson said: “Ben and Cat have recorded the best audience reach of the year so far with 4.5 million viewers across one week.
But how long Ben and Cat will actually have on the TV sofa, only time will tell.
