Ben Shephard says leaving GMB ‘wife’ Kate Garraway was ‘the hardest decision’ as he breaks silence on This Morning job
BEN Shephard has broken his silence on his new This Morning gig- and revealed leaving his GMB ‘wife’ Kate Garraway was the ‘hardest decision’.
Ben was announced as the new co-presenter of This Morning, alonside Cat Deeley, earlier today.
The pair will present on Monday- Thursday, while Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary will continue to front Friday’s instalment.
It means Ben will be leaving his job presenting Good Morning Britain, which he has fronted for a decade on Thursdays and Fridays with Kate Garraway.
Prior to that the pair have worked together on various other ITV daytime shows, including GMTV.
Ben paid tribute to his pal Kate in a touching statement about leaving the breakfast programme.
He said: “I’ve loved hosting Good Morning Britain over the past 10 years since it launched.
“When I left GMTV, I always swore I’d never go back because of the early mornings and it goes to show how wrong I was.”
He continued: “I’m grateful that my extended GMB family is only next door so that whenever I get nostalgic, I know I’m not going to being far away. Although I’ll miss being on screen with them, my later starts mean I may be able to hang out with them all a bit more!
“One of the hardest decisions of course is knowing that my mornings with Kate, my on-screen wife of nearly 20 years, is coming to an end.
“Her journey has been well documented, and I think we would all agree how remarkable she has been over the last four years.
“I won’t miss the mess but I’ve learned so much from her, as I have from all of the people I’ve been lucky enough to work alongside.”
It comes as Kate broke her own silence on Ben’s new job earlier tonight.
Taking to her instagram, she wrote: “Massive congrats to @benshephardofficial on the @itv @thismorning gig.
“You’ll be SOOOOO missed by EVERYONE @gmb viewers and the team alike & ofcourse especially me. BUT after 24 years hard labour by my side no one will begrudge you time off for good behaviour!!!
“Good luck swapping early starts for (abit) of a lie in and a Kate for a Cat! @catdeeley can’t wait to see you – you’ll have a ball.”
Ben also revealed that despite his sadness about leaving Kate, he is very much looking forward to working with Cat.
He said: “It’s always really exciting when you start working with somebody new.
“Cat has extraordinary experience from working in America on some incredible shows – so I’ll be getting all the inside info on how things work on the other side of the Atlantic.
“She’s also a mum of two young boys so I’ll be vicariously reliving my boy’s childhood through them.”