Tears as GMB’s Ben leaves to join Cat on the sofa
BEN Shephard said tearful goodbyes to Good Morning Britain yesterday as he gets set to replace Phillip Schofield on ITV’s This Morning.
Shephard, 49, embraced his fellow presenters including long-time friend Kate Garraway, 56, who helped him to launch GMB for ITV ten years ago.
He and Cat Deeley, 47, will be the new hosts of This Morning from March 11. Schofield quit over an affair with a young colleague, and co-host Holly Willoughby later resigned too.
Shephard’s final episode got off to an emotional start as he reflected on working with recently-widowed Ms Garraway, who said she was struggling to ‘keep it together’.
Asked how she would cope without him, she said: ‘You’re an incredible person and friend. I won’t say more or I’ll cry.’
Shephard was brought to tears by a montage of colleagues and his favourite West Ham ex-players, including Carlton Cole and Mark Noble, wishing him well. Susanna Reid, Alex Beresford, Dr Amir Khan and the West Ham mascot then ran on to present a segment of his best bits.
He was also surprised by members of the public whose lives he has touched, with Pride of Britain winner Ella Chadwick, 16 – who was born with a rare kidney disease – running on to greet him.
Shephard choked back tears as he closed the show, but admitted: ‘I won’t miss the alarm clock.’ He added: ‘You are amazing, wonderful colleagues. I can only cope with this because I know I’m not going far.’ Father-of-two Shephard’s wife Annie also appeared on the show. He made his TV debut on Channel 4’s The Bigger Breakfast in 1998. He took a back seat on GMB when Piers Morgan joined in 2015, but became a more prominent presenter again when Morgan walked out in 2021.