Gillian Thornton goes behind the scenes at ITV’s studio tour
Addicted to your daily dose of “Loose Women”? Hate missing Eamonn and Ruth? Gillian Thornton goes backstage on ITV’s Daytime Studios Tour.
SWITCHING on the television as I settle down to breakfast, the familiar backdrop of ITV’s “Good Morning Britain” bursts into my kitchen as presenters Ben Shephard and Kate Garraway discuss the morning’s big stories.
It’s a familiar scene and one I frequently invite into my kitchen, but today it all seems slightly surreal.
Today, I’m seeing the show from a different perspective. Only yesterday I was standing in that very studio at Television Centre in West London.
If you’re a fan of ITV’s four morning programmes
– “Good Morning Britain”, “Lorraine”, “This Morning” and “Loose Women” – you’ll love the 90-minute backstage tour of the Daytime Studios.
There’s plenty of opportunity to take pictures, ask questions and generally absorb the atmosphere.
For 17 years, ITV’s morning shows were broadcast from London’s South Bank, but when the building closed for renovation in 2018, production moved to Television Centre.
From 1960 to 2013, the Television Centre building belonged to the BBC. Its famous curved shape was designed as a question mark, and set within a triangular plot.
Now refurbished to house luxury apartments, it still retains a substantial studio complex used by both BBC and ITV.
We head first to Studio 3, where Beth, our tour guide, leads us down a narrow passage behind the set wall for “Good Morning Britain” (“GMB”).
She’s already warned us not to lean on anything – walls here aren’t always as substantial as they look!
The presenters have gone home long before tour groups arrive, but we are welcomed with a short video from Piers Morgan and Susannah Reid, and there’s a montage of
memorable moments, too, from Ben and Kate.
Meteorologist Laura Tobin reveals on video her top tips for presenting the weather.
“Never refer to weather as ‘good’ or ‘bad’,” she says. “Everybody has a different view. And never forget to smile!”
Beth shows us the discreet computers beneath the familiar curved desk where presenters can keep up to date with the latest headlines, and she explains how different cameras are used.
I discover that modern LED lights help presenters keep their cool, with no more hot studio lights necessitating make-up adjustments during ad breaks.
Moving from Studio 3 into the production corridor, we peep inside the make-up room (“Piers spends ten minutes in here!”), admire the cosy Green Room (which is white in reality) and – unexpectedly – pass a dog bed.
This belongs to Clemmie, a black cockapoo owned by “GMB” Entertainment Editor Richard Arnold.
We stop for photos in front of the “GMB” logo wall, then move into the studio shared by “Lorraine” and “Loose Women”.
The slick set change can be done in less than an hour, as rows of audience seats are deftly lowered into position after Lorraine Kelly has finished chatting to her studio guests.
Lorraine, who has been an ITV daytime presenter for 35 years, presents her show in front of one studio wall, with the “Loose Women” desk positioned at 90 degrees.
Normally, the desk is surrounded by the opinionated ladies who put the world to rights each weekday morning over mugs of tea.
We settle down in the front rows and enjoy more short videos from Lorraine and the regular “Loose Women” presenters.
“I do love a natter,” Janet Street Porter admits. “And we certainly don’t always agree!”
Meanwhile, Beth reveals that an hour before each show, a daily meeting ensures that the loose ladies do indeed have different opinions on today’s topics.
Too much agreement wouldn’t make for good viewing!
Heading downstairs, we see the Production Room for “This Morning”, fronted by Eamonn Holmes and his wife Ruth Langsford, or by Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby.
We peep inside the Fashion Team HQ, the Green Room with its comfy sofas and the Dog Walk of Fame with its plaster casts of therapy dog paws.
Then it’s back upstairs to the spacious “This
Morning” studio with its famous blue sofa in front of the Thames.
But, authentic though it looks, the view isn’t live.
Watch carefully for an hour and you’ll spot the same boat going past!
Nor is the “This Morning” kitchen quite what it seems.
The hobs run on a gas cylinder that quickly drains down, the oven only works for an hour at a time and the sink – big surprise – isn’t even plumbed in!
But the BAFTA award on the bookcase is completely authentic, a Special Award to “This Morning” in 2018.
And the blue sofa is very much the real deal, too.
As I take my turn to pose for a photo, I can’t help smiling at how many famous backsides have sat on these cushions before me.
Nice to know I’m in such select company!