Amid swirling rumours that ITV bosses have their eye on a famous husband-wife duo to take over at This Morning, we now know the truth.
Earlier today, it was reported that Tess Daly and Vernon Kay could be succeeding Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard on the daytime show.
According to sources, with Cat and Ben heading towards the end of their contracts, higher-ups are ‘keen to move quickly’ to secure a revamp.
And after Tess and Vernon fronted The One Show together for the first time last month, it was supposedly a ‘no-brainer’ that the This Morning sofa would await.
‘Execs have been sweet on Vernon for ages, but the pair’s natural husband-and-wife banter made them realise exactly what This Morning has been missing,’ an insider told The Sun.
‘They are obsessed with finding the next Richard and Judy, and Tess and Vernon have that exact same effortless magic.’
However, loyal viewers can now rest assured that there won’t be any further shakeups at This Morning for the time being.
When contacted for a comment, an ITV spokesperson made it clear: ‘We are very happy with Cat, Ben, Alison (Hammon), and Dermot (O’Leary) as This Morning’s lead presenters, and there are no plans for that to change.’
They added: ‘2026 has got off to a great start for the show with viewing up year on year and a weekly reach of 3.7million viewers.’
Meanwhile, Vernon, who has been a guest host on This Morning in the past, has no intentions of abandoning his BBC Radio 2 listeners, having become a firm favourite on the station since taking over the mid-morning show from Ken Bruce in May 2023.
His spokeswoman also told Metro: ‘There’s no truth to any rumours. Vernon is very happy and committed to his BBC Radio 2 show.’
It’s likely the latest rumours were fuelled by Tess’ recent departure from Strictly Come Dancing, a show she fronted for over 20 years.
In December, she and right-hand woman Claudia Winkleman bowed out together, with speculation still rife over who will take the reins. Current frontrunners include Emma Willis, Zoe Ball, Rylan Clark, Alex Jones, and Bradley Walsh.
Cat and Ben became This Morning regulars in early 2024, taking over from Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby.
Former SMTV Live host Cat, 49, initially appeared as a guest presenter before taking on the job full-time, while Ben, 51, left his role at Good Morning Britain for the new chapter.
Completing This Morning’s presenter roster are Alison, 51, and Dermot, 52. Alison joined the family in 2002, but she and Dermot were announced as Friday replacements for Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes in 2020.
The ITV daytime scene has undergone a major shift this year, with some of the nation’s beloved shows cut down or taken off air completely for half of the year.
Last May, it was announced that, from January 2026, GMB would be extended by 30 minutes, meaning it would start at 6am and finish at 9:30am.
As a result, Lorraine has been cut down to 30 minutes, finishing at 10am before This Morning, which is the only show unaffected by cuts at the broadcaster.
As for Loose Women, this is now off air for several weeks, along with Lorraine, and will only be shown for 30 weeks a year. The panel show no longer has a live audience either.
When Lorraine is airing on a seasonal basis, GMB will run for four hours, finishing at 10am.
What’s more, GMB has moved to the ITN Studios in Central London, while all other daytime shows will be filmed at The H Club in Covent Garden.
Speaking previously about the channel’s next era, Kevin Lygo, Managing Director of ITV’s Media and Entertainment Division, explained: ‘Daytime is a really important part of what we do, and these scheduling and production changes will enable us to continue to deliver a schedule providing viewers with the news, debate, and discussion they love from the presenters they know and trust, as well as generating savings which will allow us to reinvest across the programme budget in other genres.
‘These changes also allow us to consolidate our news operations and expand our national, international and regional news output and to build upon our proud history of trusted journalism at a time when our viewers need accurate, unbiased news coverage more than ever.’
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1 and ITVX.
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