Ben Shephard’s This Morning absence explained after announcing break from ITV show

Ben Shephard’s interruption from This Morning is into its 2nd week, aft the prima called successful unrecorded from New Zealand to explicate his absence.

The erstwhile Good Morning Britain presenter usually hosts the ITV programme connected weekdays with Cat Deeley, having taken implicit from Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby aft they stepped down.

However, earlier this month, Ben announced helium was taking a interruption and initially refused to accidental why, playing coy amid speculation implicit the I’m A Celebrity line-up.

He aboriginal revealed the existent reason, appearing via video nexus connected This Morning to explain.

The 49-year-old announced he’s signed up to big a brutal caller world contention for ITV: The Summit.

The contention is already a deed successful Australia, and challenges contestants with a trek to the apical of 1 of the world’s highest mountains, each to triumph a stock of a £200,000 jackpot.

‘I’m really not successful the jungle Cat,’ Ben confirmed, saying adjacent his mum had messaged him to inquire if helium was heading onto I’m A Celebrity.

He explained that 14 strangers from each antithetic backgrounds, including a rod dancer, a carer, and athletes, would effort and traverse the upland to scope the acme implicit the people of 2 weeks.

‘They’ll look each sorts of challenges and difficulties.’

Ben has yet to stock immoderate much details astir the programme, but has been keeping his fans updated connected societal media with his 50-day situation to beryllium ‘the fittest I’ve ever been’ earlier his 50th birthday.

He’s been attempting acold h2o swimming, walking 5k, and adjacent braving crystal baths.

A root had earlier told The Sun: ‘Ben was the cleanable prime to big the UK mentation of the fashionable format, fixed his ain interests successful fittingness and athletics arsenic good arsenic hosting Ninja Warrior for six series.

‘He sat down with his bosses connected This Morning who person known for a portion present and allowed him clip disconnected from the sofa to movie The Summit.

‘The programme has been kept apical concealed to debar spoiling the format and what’s successful store for the contestants, who are present each connected their mode to New Zealand.

‘Bosses are hoping it volition nutrient bully old-fashioned nail-biting world TV moments with back-stabbing and strategy, coupled with carnal endurance.’

Ahead of his break, Ben told viewers: ‘I’m taking a mates of weeks distant to spell retired and enactment connected this breathtaking caller task for ITV.’

‘It’s apical secret!’ helium told Cat.

He added that helium was flying ‘to the different broadside of the world’ consecutive aft the show, but ‘can’t archer you what it is’.

When Cat probed connected if he’d beryllium eating ‘witchetty grubs’ arsenic portion of I’m A Celebrity bushtucker trials, Ben replied: ‘I tin neither corroborate nor contradict wherever successful the satellite I’m going.’

She past asked if he’d beryllium seeing her ‘two mates’, Ant and Dec, to which helium repeated that helium couldn’t ‘confirm oregon deny’ anything.

Ben did tease that helium would uncover each the details connected the adjacent occurrence of This Morning, ‘live from wherever I americium successful the world’.

Ben and Cat joined This Morning aft Schofield and Holly discontinue wrong months of each other, with the erstwhile admitting his ‘unwise but not illegal’ matter earlier stepping down.

However, since the caller presenting line-up, This Morning has failed to seizure viewers, with numbers having halved successful their archetypal fewer months.

The ‘big slump’ successful viewers led to reports that ITV unit were facing ‘shorter contracts, wage freezes and occupation cuts’.

It was adjacent said the likes of Susanna Reid and Lorraine Kelly were reportedly warned of caller measures facing ITV staff following ‘crisis meetings’ being held astatine the broadcaster.

‘ITV is truly tightening their belt. There person been concerns for months astatine the apical but present that it’s trickled down to the store level it feels precise depressing,’ a root told The Sun earlier this year.

This nonfiction was primitively published connected November 7, 2024.

This Morning airs weekdays from 10am connected ITV1.

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