Kate Garraway and Ben Shephard are mourning the death of a beloved Good Morning Britain guest - young football fan Isla Caton.
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West Ham United supporter Isla, from Essex, was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer, high-risk neuroblastoma, when she was two years old. She bravely fought the disease for five years before her death earlier this week.
Kate Garraway and Ben Shephard overcome with emotion after Good Morning Britain death
An emotional Ben told viewers on Thursday: "We are going to start with some sad news, though many of our viewers I'm sure will remember our guest, seven-year-old Isla, from a couple of weeks ago.
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"[She appeared] with Guvna B, who is a rapper, who had rapped spontaneously on Sky Sports about the West Ham football team. This rap had gone viral, and in support of Isla, who was battling cancer, it had been released to raise money for her treatment… Very sadly Isla's family posted this tweet on Tuesday."
Kate, 54, then read out a statement, which read: "It is with the heaviest of broken hearts that we must announce Isla gained her angel wings. It was very peaceful and surrounded by the continued love of Nicola, Michael, and Millie."
Fighting back tears, the GMB host added: "Very sad but wonderful for her and her family that she got to see some of that love."
Touching upon the tributes, Ben continued: "The outpouring of tributes for Isla and her family has been incredible, the amount of West Ham players that have come out in support of her. You saw the picture there of the West Ham stadium draped in tributes to her as well."
Isla's family released this message on Twitter
Ben then went on to read a tribute from West Ham football star Mark Noble, which said: "I was first introduced to Isla when I carried her out as a mascot in Bournemouth in 2018, it was very clear she was a very special girl. She will never be forgotten, she will be part of the West Ham family forever. Rest In Peace, little Isla."
The presenter concluded: "And we share those sentiments from Mark to Isla and her family."
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