ITV to axe Eamonn and Ruth for first black host
EAMONN Holmes and wife Ruth Langsford have been axed by ITV’s This Morning after 14 years – to make way for the show’s first permanent black presenter.
Alison Hammond and X Factor host Dermot O’Leary will take the couple’s regular Friday slot on the popular daytime show in a move that has left Mr Holmes and Ms Langsford ‘disappointed and devastated’.
News of the new line-up comes just five months after This Morning editor Martin Frizell told staff that he was planning to hire a black presenter.
A source close to Mr Holmes and Ms Langsford, both 60, last night said they are ‘more upset than angry’ at being ousted.
Ms Hammond, 45, who first appeared on screen as a contestant in Big Brother, and Mr O’Leary, 47, impressed both viewers and ITV bosses when they covered for the main hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield during the summer.
Last night, a This Morning source said: ‘Ruth and Eamonn have been part of the show for 14 years and being told they are no longer wanted has been very sad and disappointing for them.
‘They love it and the viewers love them, but times are changing on the show and they have been the victims.’
The couple have been assured that they remain ‘part of the This Morning family’ and will likely be asked to cover when other presenters are on holiday. The move is not an entire surprise to them. In recent weeks, Mr Holmes has being telling friends of his fear that he is too ‘pale, stale and male’ for the ITV show.
During a video conference with staff in June, Mr Frizell said: ‘There is not a black presenter on any of the programmes today. We plan to change that, we [This Morning] are looking into that.’
ITV has sought to bring greater diversity to its presenting roster since The Mail on Sunday revealed last October that there had been just one ethic minority presenter during an entire day’s output.
But in August this year, there were eight non-white anchors on screen in a single day.
Last night, ITV and representatives for Mr Holmes and Ms Langsford declined to comment.