Ben Shephard’s break from This Morning is into its second week, after the star called in live from New Zealand to explain his absence.
The former Good Morning Britain presenter usually hosts the ITV programme on weekdays with Cat Deeley, having taken over from Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby after they stepped down.
However, earlier this month, Ben announced he was taking a break and initially refused to say why, playing coy amid speculation over the I’m A Celebrity line-up.
He later revealed the real reason, appearing via video link on This Morning to explain.
The 49-year-old announced he’s signed up to host a brutal new reality competition for ITV: The Summit.
The competition is already a hit in Australia, and challenges contestants with a trek to the top of one of the world’s highest mountains, each to win a share of a £200,000 jackpot.
‘I’m actually not in the jungle Cat,’ Ben confirmed, saying even his mum had messaged him to ask if he was heading onto I’m A Celebrity.
He explained that 14 strangers from all different backgrounds, including a pole dancer, a carer, and athletes, would try and traverse the mountain to reach the summit over the course of two weeks.
‘They’ll face all sorts of challenges and difficulties.’
Ben has yet to share any more details about the programme, but has been keeping his fans updated on social media with his 50-day challenge to be ‘the fittest I’ve ever been’ before his 50th birthday.
He’s been attempting cold water swimming, walking 5k, and even braving ice baths.
A source had earlier told The Sun: ‘Ben was the perfect choice to host the UK version of the popular format, given his own interests in fitness and sport as well as hosting Ninja Warrior for six series.
‘He sat down with his bosses on This Morning who have known for a while now and allowed him time off from the sofa to film The Summit.
‘The programme has been kept top secret to avoid spoiling the format and what’s in store for the contestants, who are now all on their way to New Zealand.
‘Bosses are hoping it will produce good old-fashioned nail-biting reality TV moments with back-stabbing and strategy, coupled with physical endurance.’
Ahead of his break, Ben told viewers: ‘I’m taking a couple of weeks away to go out and work on this exciting new project for ITV.’
‘It’s top secret!’ he told Cat.
He added that he was flying ‘to the other side of the world’ straight after the show, but ‘can’t tell you what it is’.
When Cat probed on if he’d be eating ‘witchetty grubs’ as part of I’m A Celebrity bushtucker trials, Ben replied: ‘I can neither confirm nor deny where in the world I’m going.’
She then asked if he’d be seeing her ‘two mates’, Ant and Dec, to which he repeated that he couldn’t ‘confirm or deny’ anything.
Ben did tease that he would reveal all the details on the next episode of This Morning, ‘live from where I am in the world’.
Ben and Cat joined This Morning after Schofield and Holly quit within months of each other, with the former admitting his ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair before stepping down.
However, since the new presenting line-up, This Morning has failed to capture viewers, with numbers having halved in their first few months.
The ‘big slump’ in viewers led to reports that ITV staff were facing ‘shorter contracts, pay freezes and job cuts’.
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It was even said the likes of Susanna Reid and Lorraine Kelly were reportedly warned of new measures facing ITV staff following ‘crisis meetings’ being held at the broadcaster.
‘ITV is really tightening their belt. There have been concerns for months at the top but now that it’s trickled down to the shop floor it feels very depressing,’ a source told The Sun earlier this year.
This article was originally published on November 7, 2024.
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This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1.
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