Ben Shephard has finally addressed the This Morning ratings ‘dip’ since he took over hosting duties with new sidekick Cat Deeley.

The 49-year-old jumped ship from Good Morning Britain to present the new look ITV daytime show with So You Think You Can Dance host Cat, 47. The pair were shipped in to restore This Morning to its former glory after the Phillip Schofield scandal and Holly Willoughby fall out drama.

Since the duo joined the show in early March, it’s taken viewers a while to warm up to them – with many calling for regular Friday hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary to have been given the full-time jobs.

Their first show on March 11 got off to a good start – with their debut episode pulling in one million viewers at its peak and attracting an average viewership of 806,000 – among This Morning’s highest ratings of the year so far. But since then, things have dipped with the

following week seeing viewing stats drop to as low as 692,500 – lower than the amount of people that tuned in to watch what unknowingly became Schofield and Holly’s final show together back in May last year (767,000).

Ben and Cat divided viewers at first – but the ratings show they are warming to them ( 

Image:

ITV)

However, speaking to the Mirror, a spokesperson for This Morning hit back at the claims and said: “Ben and Cat have recorded the best audience reach of the year so far on This Morning with 4.5 million viewers across one week. Viewing figures for January – March 2024 are also up 5% compared to 2023.”

In April it was claimed This Morning was raking in more viewers than when Holly and Phil were on air last year. After Ben and Cat were only live on air for a month, they had already beat last year’s viewing figures by five percent.

Sources told MailOnline: “The truth is that Ben and Cat have made a strong start in just three weeks on-air and everyone is delighted. They’ve already had the top three performances of the year so far during the three weeks, and viewing has been up across those three weeks compared to the year-to-date average. The bosses are thrilled… they are clearly popular with the viewers.

“Holly and Phil were on together for 14 years, so it has been a long time since there has been a fresh relaunch. The overall view is that this has been a massive success – it’s great news.”

Speaking out on the reports for the first time, Ben was asked if he was “disappointed” about the ratings and told Bella magazine: “It is not something I really worry about right now. From our perspective, we just want to make the best show we can possibly make. The reaction we have had has been brilliant and I am loving it.”

Cat and Ben were announced as replacements for Holly and Phillip Schofield after viewing figures plummeted following their reported behind-the-scenes ‘feud’. Holly then quit for good in October 2023 following Phil’s “unwise, but not illegal” affair with a younger male colleague and for the sake of her family after a man was arrested over an alleged plot to kidnap and murder her.