Ben Shephard delighted ITV audiences on Wednesday when he swapped his usual stint on Good Morning Britain to join Holly Willoughby as the co-presenter for This Morning.
Taking to Instagram, the official account for the popular daytime show posted a picture of the presenter alongside Holly, thanking him for his appearance as host. "Thanks for stopping by @benshephardofficial!" they shared alongside a sunglasses emoji. The post was soon inundated with messages as fans called for Ben to be made the permanent co-host after Phillip Schofield stepped down back in May.
"Ben is the best he should be made permanent on This Morning," said one, while a second enthused: "It is great to see Ben on This Morning. He is such a professional a breath of fresh air. Please keep him on the show."
A third penned: "Ben is brilliant on this morning in both humour and knowledge with intelligent questions, a natural," while a fourth posted: "What a great host on This Morning, would be great to have Ben every morning," and a fifth added: "Please stay @benshephardofficial - honestly the best presenter on there in ages. Experience, genuine empathy and a sense of humour!"
© Ken McKay/ITV/ShutterstockPhillip stepped back from the show in May following rumours of a feud with his co-star Holly Willoughby after his brother, Tim Schofield, was imprisoned for child abuse offences. He then left ITV entirely, while being dropped by his agency and the Princes Trust in June after news of his affair with a junior colleague was revealed.
In a lengthy statement given to the Daily Mail at the time, he said: "I am painfully conscious that I have lied to my employers at ITV, to my colleagues and friends, to my agents, to the media and therefore the public and most importantly of all to my family. I am so very, very sorry, as I am for having been unfaithful to my wife."
© Ken McKay/ITV/ShutterstockHe added: "I will reflect on my very bad judgement in both participating in the relationship and then lying about it."
Following Phillip's departure, Holly was joined by a rotating group of presenters, including Steve Jones, before ITV announced back in July that Josie Gibson and Craig Doyle would be her permanent co-hosts.
© REXFans of the show were quick to react to the news on X, which was then known as Twitter, and expressed their excitement over the upcoming pairing. One person wrote: "Yes, Josie and Craig next week!!" while another person tweeted: "Josie & Craig back next week!!!"
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Ben hasn't commented on whether he's planning to leave GMB for This Morning, but responding to Holly Willoughby's message praising him on his Instagram Stories, he wrote: "Not a bad start to the week @hollywilloughby, thanks for all the lovely messages too!"
