Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary have been confirmed as This Morning’s summer presenters after ITV bosses won a channel-wide tug-of-war.
The show is said to be pinning hopes on the pair for a ratings boost after a slump since Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard took over the lead roles.
Dermot, 51, and Alison, 49, had both been booked for shows on rival stations, forcing ITV to go to great lengths to secure them a place on its summer schedule.
Craig Doyle and Josie Gibson were rumored to possibly take on the roles, but a source confirmed Sun That Friday, hosts Alison and Dermot were locked in.
“Viewers love Alison and Dermot, so having them together over the summer was a priority,” they said.
Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary have been confirmed as This Morning’s summer presenters after ITV bosses won a tug-of-war between channels, it was reported on Friday (pictured June)
The show is said to be pinning hopes of a ratings boost on the pair after a slump since Cat Deeley and Ben Shepard took over the lead roles (pictured in June).
‘Josie and Craig are great, but executives can’t risk losing their top names when the spotlight is on the show.
‘It is hoped that a good summer run from Ali and Dermot could get things off to a good start when Cat and Ben return in September.’
The morning show’s audience figures have halved to 486,000 since Cat and Ben’s arrival.
However, last Friday’s show, hosted by Alison and Dermot, reached 620,000 people.
Executives panicked that the couple would not be available for summer programming after Alison booked two gigs: Alison Hammond’s Big Weekend and Florida Unpacked, a travel show with her 19-year-old son Aiden.
Meanwhile, Dermot was recently announced as the host of a new game show for UKTV’s Dave.
ITV told MailOnline that the presenting line-up for the summer schedule will be announced soon.
MailOnline has contacted representatives for Alison and Dermot.
Dermot, 51, and Alison, 49, had both been booked for shows on rival stations, forcing ITV to go to great lengths to secure them for the summer line-up (pictured, in April)
Craig Doyle and Josie Gibson were rumoured to be taking over the roles, but a source confirmed to The Sun that Friday presenters Alison and Dermot were already confirmed (pictured in June)
“Viewers love Alison and Dermot, so locking them down over the summer was a priority,” they said (pictured from June)
Earlier on Friday, bookmakers were predicting that Dermot O’Leary could step down from his presenting duties on the show, after landing his own game show Silence is Golden on rival channel UKTV’s Dave.
His upcoming show, produced by GMB’s Richard Bacon, will see the studio audience trying not to laugh as they are entertained by a host of comedians in a bid to bag a share of the £250,000 prize.
However, betting sites suggest that as he spreads his wings elsewhere, there is a strong possibility the presenter is planning to step away from his ITV duties.
Following a list of ITV presenters set to take on roles outside the channel, betideas.com predicts Dermot has an 11/10 chance of leaving the show at any time in 2024.
Lee Astley, a spokesman for the betting site, said: ‘Dermot O’Leary is the latest big name at ITV to begin branching out from his duties at the channel, with rumours rife that his tenure on ITV’s This Morning is coming to an end.
‘We give him 11/10 odds of quitting the main daytime show altogether and 3/1 that he will start his own talk show, although he also seems possible to appear on a selection of BBC programmes.’
Bookmakers are predicting that Dermot O’Leary could be set to ditch his presenting duties on This Morning, after landing his own game show on UKTV’s Dave called Silence is Golden.
Dermot, 51, will star in his new series alongside comedian Katherine Ryan, 41 (pictured above)
According to the site, the presenter is also rumoured to be defecting to the BBC and has bets at 7/2 to host The One Show and 4/1 for a stint on Morning Live, while he has bets at 3/1 to start his own TV talk show.
MailOnline has contacted Dermot’s representatives for comment.
Speaking about his new job as a presenter, Dermot, who fronted ITV’s X Factor between 2007 and 2018, said Sun:When a program like this falls into your hands, you can’t believe your luck.
“I’m looking forward to having a lot of fun.”
While producer Richard told the publication: “What does it feel like to not be allowed to laugh at a funeral? That’s it – the pageant.”
Alison, 49, and Dermot, who present ITV’s Friday show and bank holiday coverage, were “snubbed” from the top job and Cat Deeley, 47, and Ben Shephard, 49, replaced Phillip and Holly Willoughby in March.
As well as presenting For The Love Of Dogs on ITV and Bake Off on Channel 4, Alison has also signed on to present two shows on rival broadcaster the BBC.
She will spend 48 hours with some of the UK’s best-loved celebrities and go inside their homes to give fans a glimpse into their glamorous lives in Alison Hammond’s Big Weekend.
Dermot, who presented X Factor on ITV between 2007 and 2018 (pictured), said: ‘When a show like this falls into your lap you can’t believe your luck.
Cat Deeley, 47, and Ben Shephard, 49, landed the jobs as main presenters of This Morning in March.
As well as presenting For The Love Of Dogs on ITV and Bake Off (pictured) on Channel 4, Alison has also signed on to present two shows on rival broadcaster the BBC.
The BBC has also reportedly approached the TV star to host a travel show called Florida Unpacked, which could compete in the daytime schedule with This Morning.
This comes after This Morning’s viewing figures ‘dropped by half’, according to new reports.
Since presenters Cat and Ben took over, half a million viewers have stopped tuning in to the ITV daytime show.
With over a million viewers watching on its first day back in March, two months later the numbers now stand at less than 500,000 – a dramatic drop.