Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard’s jobs as This Morning presenters will remain secure after the show’s editor of 10 years, Martin Frizell, announced his resignation.
Martin, 65, will step down from his role in the spring of next year and his replacement has yet to be announced.
With a new boss in charge, speculation grew over whether the show would have a major shake-up after Cat, 48, and Ben, 48, took over after a turbulent year.
But the duo, who were announced as the new presenters of This Morning in February after more than a year of scandal, will continue to front the daytime show.
ITV insiders say the couple have the “full support” of the channel’s director of television, Kevin Lygo, who is said to “adore” Cat.
A source told MailOnline: “Kevin was very behind signing Cat, along with Martin, they did everything they could to get her and there were a lot of obstacles.
Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard’s jobs as This Morning presenters will remain secure after the show’s editor of 10 years, Martin Frizell, announced he was quitting.
Martin, 65, who is married to Fiona Phillips, will step down from his role in spring next year, with his replacement yet to be announced (pictured together in 2016).
‘ITV loves her and they don’t want her to go anywhere. As for Ben, ITV viewers adore him. Martin has known he would be leaving for some time, even when he hired Cat and Ben.
“Everyone at ITV is delighted how things have calmed down since they took over, they have steadied the ship and the show is no longer making headlines for the wrong reasons.”
The duo were locked in talks for months as a host of presenters, including Craig Doyle, Alison Hammond and Josie Gibson, temporarily took over presenting duties following the departure of Holly Willoughby, 43, and Phillip Schofield, 62.
Phillip resigned in disgrace after more than 20 years on the show in May 2023 after lying about an affair with a younger colleague.
ITV bosses were forced to deny “turning a blind eye” to the affair before it came to light, sparking a huge public row between Phillip and his former friend Holly Willoughby, who quit five months later after being informed by the police of a horrible plot to kill her.
Cat left her job across the Atlantic on So You Think You Can Dance, where she was reportedly paid £43k per episode; Instead he opted for the role on This Morning with an annual salary of £550k.
Although high, the salary still paled in comparison to that of former presenters Holly and Phil, who were said to be paid £700,000 a year for their role.
The duo were locked in talks for months following the departure of Holly Willoughby, 43, and Phillip Schofield, 62.
ITV insiders say they have the “full support” of the channel’s director of television, Kevin Lygo (pictured), who is said to “adore” Cat.
Meanwhile, former Good Morning Britain presenter Ben was hailed by fans as a “safe bet”.
Its debut episode drew an average audience of 806,000 and a peak of one million, among the show’s highest ratings of 2024 so far.
Viewers seemed to be equally impressed, with many praising the pair for being “so much more refreshing.”
The following week, the number fell to just 692,500, less than Holly and Phillip’s last day, when 767,00 people tuned in.
A This Morning spokesperson told MailOnline at the time: ‘Ben and Cat have recorded the best audience reach of the year so far on This Morning with 4.5 million viewers in one week.
“Viewing figures for January to March 2024 were also up 5 percent compared to 2023.”
But this week, viewers tuning in begged bosses to consider replacing Ben with Dermot O’Leary after he filled in while the former GMB presenter was filming another ITV show.
Viewers wrote on X: ‘Cat and Dermot work VERY well together. Natural, relaxed, energetic and warm. Not at all stiff or uncomfortable #ThisMorning;’
‘Dermot should be the full-time main presenter. He’s great with both Cat and Alison #ThisMorning.’
‘Has anyone noticed that it’s less stressful now that Ben’s gone? #ThisMorning, ‘Cat and Dermot have more chemistry than Ben and Cat #thismorning’ and ‘Cat is so much better with Dermot #ThisMorning’.
This week, viewers tuning in begged bosses to consider replacing Ben with Dermot O’Leary after he filled in while the former GMB presenter was filming another ITV show.
Viewers took to X to write: ‘Cat and Dermot work VERY well together. Natural, relaxed, energetic and warm. Not at all rigid or uncomfortable #ThisMañana
It comes after Cat appeared alongside Andi Peters, 54, in Monday and Tuesday’s installment. But Cat was left red-faced after a series of errors forced Bob Geldof to intervene.
It comes after Monday and Tuesday’s installment Cat appeared alongside Andi Peters, 54, who usually provides the latest details on the competition.
But Cat was left blushing after a series of mistakes forced Bob Geldof to step in and correct her.
While the hosts were talking to Bob and Midge Ure about Band Aid, Cat made a series of factual errors.
When Cat told viewers that Band Aid had raised almost £2 million, Bob quickly corrected her and said it was actually £480 million.
He joked: ‘Have you never done this before?’
Cat said, ‘Never, I’m a cute chicken!’ If that wasn’t awkward enough, Bob was forced to correct Cat a second time, swiping: ‘Are you investigating?’
As Cat posted the upcoming Band Aid documentary exploring footage of the first single, Do They Know It’s Christmas, she told viewers the wrong channel.
When Bob told viewers that the documentary would premiere later this week, Cat interrupted “On Channel 4.”
But Bob said: “No, not Channel 4, BBC Four.”
He became angry: ‘Who informs you? Who investigates? Deeley. It’s BBC Four, for God’s sake.
While blushing, Cat held up the script notes to hide her embarrassed face.
Despite Cat’s mistakes, the hosts and Bob laughed about the mistakes.
Martín announced his departure on Wednesday.
The editor, married to former GMTV presenter Fiona Phillips, joined the broadcaster in 2014 as editor of Loose Women before taking over at This Morning.
Fiona, 63, revealed in July 2023 that she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s the previous year.
Martin is seen here with former This Morning hosts Holly and Phillip at the TV Choice Awards in September 2019.
Martin edited GMTV for 10 years before ITV bought it in 2009.
The executive said in a statement: “Next year I expect my family priorities to change, so I need to free up time for them.”
“I love my team at ITV and I will miss them and the excitement of live TV, but it is an always-on, 24/7 commitment and I won’t be able to do both.”
A channel source said: “It’s the 24/7 nature of the role that is not conducive to Fiona’s illness and next year he thinks he will have to be a lot closer to her.” Your family commitments are about to change and you need a job that can fit into them rather than a job that takes over your entire life.
‘Martin has been talking about this for a while.
‘He and Emma Gormley, the head of the daytime show, have been regularly discussing when it might be time for him to decide to leave This Morning.
‘It’s been ten years and the last few have been very difficult with Holly and Phil leaving and the fallout from that, and now is the time.
‘Martin micromanages everything on This Morning, from the colors to the lighting to the scripts, he oversees every detail and he can’t do that if Fiona’s condition is deteriorating. “It’s very sad.”
Kevin, ITV’s managing director of media and entertainment, paid tribute, saying: “This Morning is an iconic program in ITV’s programming and he led the team for a decade, producing over ten hours of original, current and live television every week”. It is an amazing achievement.
‘As a show and a brand, Martin has ensured that the show remains a household name, an award-winning staple of programming with an increasingly successful presence on digital and social media.
“On behalf of the ITV Network, we thank Martin and wish him the best for his future endeavours.”