Breakfast television shows might try desperately to project an air of bonhomie to propel viewers into the day ahead, but there’s plenty of evidence to suggest the brightly-coloured, welcoming sofas that are their mainstay can be a dangerous place to perch.
First into the lions’ den were Selina Scott and Frank Bough, who launched BBC Breakfast Time in 1983. The serene Scotswoman and pullover-wearing co-host didn’t get on and in 2023 she accused him of carrying out a ‘campaign to undermine’ her on air.
Then there was Eamonn Holmes and Anthea Turner on ITV’s GMTV in the mid-Nineties who, despite having on-screen chemistry, despised one another away from the cameras, with Eamonn dubbing the former Blue Peter presenter ‘Princess Tippy Toes’.
Only Eamonn is still on the early morning sofa, clinging on with a little-watched show on GB News.
Naga Munchetty is queen of the BBC Breakfast sofa with a salary of between £335,000 and £339,999
So is life on breakfast TV as precarious as it used to be?
I spoke to insiders on all the main morning programmes to rate today’s crop of presenters.
Be warned – one is so scary she terrifies her co-host but is adored by bosses, while another is absent from her own show almost as much as she’s on it.
A-list
Her co-star Charlie Stayt often looks terrified by her, but Naga Munchetty is queen of the BBC Breakfast sofa, bringing in double the viewers of ITV rival Susanna Reid – 1.1 million for Auntie, compared to around 600,000 for Good Morning Britain.
She was promoted to her regular spot – and a salary of between £335,000-£339,999 – when previous incumbent Louise Minchin vacated the hot seat to pursue other ventures (such as writing a book and marathon running) three and half years ago.
Naga’s fearless interviewing style makes compulsive viewing for those watching at home, but sources say Stayt isn’t always so keen – and neither are some of her behind-the-camera staff.
‘Naga knows what she wants and she has high standards,’ said my BBC mole. ‘She’s hardly the kind of person you’d invite round for dinner but since Dan Walker [a former host and sports presenter who hoofed up a storm on Strictly then departed for Channel 5 in 2022] and Louise left she has kept Breakfast afloat.’
Despite Susanna Reid’s GMB being consistently beaten in the ratings war, playing second fiddle to the Beeb hasn’t damaged her status at ITV and so she remains in the top tier. Interestingly, she was poached from the BBC’s breakfast sofa after her stint on Strictly in 2014. With a whopping £1.1 million salary, her earnings are also considerably more A-list than Naga’s.
Susanna Reid was poached from the BBC’s breakfast sofa after her stint on Strictly in 2014
Described as having ‘Head Girl vibes’ she is queen bee at the network and, after more than ten years, there is no talk of replacing her anytime soon – even if she did lose her original sidekick Piers Morgan in 2021, whose presence was regarded by some as ‘making her a little more interesting’.
For late risers, breakfast television includes post-9am programming and girl power is out in force here, too.
Another ex-Strictly star (the class of 2022) was Countryfile’s Helen Skelton, who is snapping at the heels of Naga and Susanna as the main presenter on the BBC’s Morning Live, which follows Breakfast. ‘ITV were insanely jealous,’ said my insider. ‘They were kicking themselves for not signing her up for something before the BBC did.’
But in the battle for talent, ITV hit back by landing Cat Deeley – a former children’s presenter who had defected to the US – to host the jewel of the daytime crown, This Morning, when first Phil Schofield then Holly Willoughby imploded their own dream pairing with an almighty spat.
After months of wranglings and negotiations about her TV commitments across the pond, where she hosted a dance show, Cat finally signed up to replace Holly last March.
ITV boss Kevin Lygo ‘just loves’ her, I’m told. Their press office is equally enamoured, not least because since she arrived the sensational headlines that dogged the programme have disappeared. ‘She has steadied the ship perfectly,’ said one ITV source.
Ben Shephard is often described as ‘boring Ben’ but it would be unfair to leave him off the A-list, writes Katie Hind
She joined Ben Shephard in what execs hoped would be a safe pair of hands and perhaps even recreate the early chemistry of Holly and Phil. Despite so many people describing Shephard to me as ‘boring Ben’, it would simply be unfair to leave him off the A-list.
‘He might be tedious to his colleagues but ITV know the housewives love him,’ said a source.
B-list
Kate Garraway has been on breakfast TV since the early 2000s.
One of the hosts on GMTV from 2000 to 2010 and now on the latest incarnation, GMB, where she’s appeared on the sofa since 2014, Kate has never made it as a main host. Nevertheless she has proved to be one of the show’s most popular stand-ins, which is why she’s in the B-list, not higher.
Her popularity rocketed when she spoke movingly about her late husband Derek Draper’s illness following his Covid diagnosis and his subsequent death, just over a year ago. She made three documentaries about Draper’s battle and took over Life Stories when her old buddy Piers Morgan handed her the baton.
Kate Garraway’s popularity rocketed when she spoke movingly about her late husband Derek Draper’s illness following his Covid diagnosis and his subsequent death
However, even her status as the nation’s first widow does not shield her from the occasional sniping colleague at ITV. ‘She’s everywhere, isn’t she,’ one told me, not terribly nicely.
Meanwhile, the fight to replace Morgan on the GMB sofa after his departure four years ago (he called Meghan Markle a liar and flounced off-air) has certainly been drawn out.
ITV’s chosen successor is money expert Martin Lewis, bringing him into the B-list. He draws in hundreds of thousands of viewers hoping to learn how to manage their cash better, thanks to his high profile social media and online presence.
When it comes to favourites in the world of morning TV, Christine Lampard is also high on ITV’s list.
She may have had a terrible fall from grace when her Daybreak show – the ill-fated successor to GMTV with Adrian Chiles – was panned and eventually binned in 2014, but today she is the first choice replacement for Lorraine Kelly when she’s away (more of which later) from her 9am eponymous lifestyle show, which follows on from GMB.
In fact, execs originally wanted her to replace Holly on This Morning, but these days her main focus is on being mum to daughter Patricia and son Freddie, who she shares with her husband, former footballer Frank Lampard.
When it comes to favourites in the world of morning TV, Christine Lampard is also high on ITV’s list
Back over at the BBC and there’s comeback queen Gaby Roslin stealthily moving her way up the B-List. After years in the TV wilderness, where she was more likely to be seen behind a radio mic or ‘shopping in her closet’ online, the former host of Channel 4’s Big Breakfast is back in favour for her stand-in presenting role on Morning Live.
As for her co-star Gethin Jones, well, ‘he just never quite made it’ is what one BBC snitch said to me. But he deserves to be in the B-list as he’s another at the helm of Morning Live which, to be fair, does now beat This Morning in the ratings.
He also gets a big tick from the Beeb for his Welsh accent and is, of course, very handsome and charming. He is also said to be extraordinarily nice and fun behind the scenes.
Meanwhile, promoted from the BBC doldrums of the Crimewatch Roadshow is Michelle Ackerley, now one of the three main presenters of Morning Live. I’m assured she’s ‘on her way up’ since getting her promotion to the programme last year (1.16 million viewers compared to This Morning’s 1 m).
Finally, there is good egg Sally Nugent, the loyal BBC Breakfast star who has never put a foot wrong but was passed over for the main presenting role, in favour of Naga. I’m told she’s ‘far more popular’ than her co-star.
‘At least she lives in the North,’ said my insider. BBC Breakfast is filmed at MediaCityUK in Salford. Naga, meanwhile, is based over 200 miles away in Hertfordshire and commutes to the studios.
C-list
Lorraine Kelly likes to think she is the queen of breakfast television, and first took her position on the sofa back in the TV-am days in 1989 when bosses, impressed by her reporting on the Lockerbie plane crash, asked her to provide holiday cover for the show’s permanent sofa residents.
Lorraine’s girl-next-door charm was a hit with viewers and she remained on the sofa through the GMTV years and since her daughter Rosie (now 30 and a mother herself) was young, securing her own follow-on show, Lorraine.
But I’m placing her on the C-List because of the infrequency of her own presenting gigs. Last year she hosted fewer than 60 per cent of her own shows – 154 of 258 episodes, according to one estimate – despite being paid £568,000 annually. She didn’t even manage to make it for the first programme of the year.
Lorraine Kelly first took her position on the sofa back in the TV-am days in 1989
ITV bosses have regularly told me they reckon it will be ‘killed off’ soon. ‘Lorraine is all smiley in front of the cameras, like she’s your best friend, but behind the scenes she rules things with an iron rod. You don’t cross Lorraine.’
When she is absent she is sometimes covered by Ranvir Singh, the brilliant presenter who also took part in Strictly back in 2021. There was a time when Ranvir hosted GMB with Kate Garraway and the fans loved it, but she appears to be on telly less recently.
Former Shadow Labour Chancellor Ed Balls was once described to me as the ‘saviour’ of GMB when bosses were trying desperately to fill the giant shoes left by Piers Morgan. All that changed when he interviewed his own wife, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, on air last year.
Viewers were understandably furious about the conflict of interests the power couple’s positions posed. Cries of ‘unfair’ rang out and ITV and Ofcom were inundated with complaints, accusing the programme of being ‘biased’. Behind the scenes staff were, I’m told, outraged and believe he should no longer be used. However, Susanna, who is a big fan of the former Labour MP, loves him so he has stayed.
There was a time when Ranvir Singh hosted GMB with Kate Garraway and the fans loved it
Meanwhile, Josie Gibson really has had a fall from grace. She was another of the names mooted to replace Holly on This Morning when bosses were impressed by the segments she presented. But my sources tell me her lack of experience (she was a former Big Brother winner) meant she di
dn’t possess the gravitas of a dyed-in-the-wool presenter.
Since Cat was appointed, Josie is nowhere to be seen. The bubbly Bristolian – a former call centre worker turned reality star –couldn’t believe her luck when she landed the role as a regular stand-in after being the on-screen roving reporter.
‘ITV can be a cruel place,’ mused my This Morning insider.
Let’s not forget the very affable BBC Breakfast host Jon Kay, who seemed to come from absolutely nowhere (he was a reporter with the Beeb for 20 years but not thought to have fronted any shows) to have a stab at replacing Dan Walker.
Currently, Jon is low key but I’m told the Beeb have ‘high hopes’ for him.
Until this year, veteran journalist Kay Burley was the scourge of politicians who were grilled by her on the Sky News morning slot which she had presented since 2019, albeit with an enforced break from the screens when she broke Covid rules to celebrate her 60th.
But the 64-year-old quit earlier this month, saying ‘It’s time for me to indulge in some of my other passions, including my love for travel.’ While this means she’s hurtling down the breakfast presenter ratings, she’s not the type who will be off our screens for long.
D-list
Morning Live was launched by the BBC five years ago in a bid to beat off This Morning, but while the ratings are regularly above one million some of its stars have failed to grip the nation.
Kym Marsh (remember her from pop group Hear’Say?) was hired as a host from the start, but I hear she is not everyone’s cup of tea. ‘She should stick to photoshoots in OK! magazine,’ said one industry insider. Such points of view are not universally held.
She often appears alongside Rav Wilding, the former Crimewatch host, who has resurrected his career after pictures of him arguing with his ex, Chantelle Houghton, in Richmond Park back in 2010, threatened to torpedo it.
Eamonn Holmes, the former king of breakfast television who today struggles to pull in many viewers over at GB News
However, despite trying very hard indeed, I’m told he is still in need of ‘a lot’ of stardust.
Then there’s Craig Doyle, the former Holiday host and stand-in for Phillip Schofield, who has found himself right down the pecking order at This Morning since Ben Shephard’s arrival, despite once being tipped for the big job.
Finally, there’s Eamonn Holmes, the former king of breakfast television who today struggles to pull in many viewers over at GB News. As for his colleagues, well, most of them think he’s miserable.
‘One of the most popular topics of conversation among GB News producers is how long his show will last – and they don’t think it will be long,’ my snitch at the channel tells me.
