This Morning bosses are reportedly facing a crisis as “bored” viewers have failed to connect with new hosts Cat Deely and Ben Shephard after months of chaos.

The new presenting duo were announced in March, after rumours and speculation surrounding who would replace Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on the ITV daytime show. This Morning was hit with a huge scandal last year when it emerged the 62-year-old had stepped down from his role as presenter after he confessed to an affair with a much younger employee who worked on the show.


Some fans have pleaded with bosses to make Alison and Dermot the main hosts
Holly then faced a huge backlash, and after a brief return to the daytime show, she called it quits in October. The hunt was on for a new dynamic duo to front the hugely popular show, and after an intensive search, Cat and Ben were unveiled as the new faces of This Morning. However, they’ve failed to impress viewers, with many taking to social media to voice their concerns. “I don’t even watch morning TV but for the life of me I CANNOT understand why these two aren’t the main hosts! Mind boggling,” as another chimed in: “Wish these two were on every day. Much more suited to the programme x.” Agreeing, a fourth responded: “My thoughts exactly. Don’t like Cat Deeley for some reason and Ben is not fun.”

Some viewers have yet to be won over by Cat and Ben
Some viewers have yet to be won over by Cat and Ben ( 
Image:
Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Cat, 47, and Ben, 49, hosted their first show together on March 11 and things got off to a good start, with their debut episode pulling in one million viewers at its peak and an average viewership of 806,000. However, things have since dropped, and in May, peak viewing figures fell to 589,000 – with an average of 486,000, according to The Sun.

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Those figures are much less than This Morning’s rival BBC show Morning Live, which has been raking in between one million and 1.4 million viewers. “Nobody at This Morning thought viewing figures would dip beneath the landmark low of half a million,” a source told The Sun. Even former Good Morning Britain host Ben was forced to speak out about the ratings dip, 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.”

Phil and Holly departed from the show last year

ITV bosses dismissed reports they were hoping Cat and Ben would boost the flailing daytime show, and a source told The Sun there was a “hope was that the new duo would bring back an air of stability and familiarity back to This Morning.” A spokesperson for This Morning hit back at the claims and told The Mirror: “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.”

Fans have also been pleading for beloved Friday hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary to be the main presenters, with one viewer claiming in a comment on one of Alison’s Instagram videos that the duo were “literally keeping this show from losing viewers. Get them as the main hosts ASAP.”