History
From October 1988 to July 2001, This Morning was presented by husband and wife team Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. At this time the show was very popular attracting around two million viewers daily. From time to time, during their holidays, they were replaced for short stints by guest presenters such as Stephen Rhodes and Alison Keenan. Originally the show was broadcast from a studio inside the Albert Dock in Liverpool. As part of the show weather presenter Fred Talbot used a floating map of the British Isles to report the forecast. A clip of a streaker running onto Fred Talbot's weather map in 1995 is regularly shown on clip shows.
For the beginning of the Autumn 1996 series was relocated to LWT's Television Centre (now The London Studios) in London, coinciding with a housing relocation for Madeley and Finnigan and to secure even more celebrity guests for the show. From 1998 onwards, Richard and Judy hosted only the Monday to Thursday editions, with regular guest presenters hosting on Fridays: during the tenth series Caron Keating and Ross Kelly presided, and from series 11 in 1999 Fern Britton and John Leslie were regular presenters of Friday's show.
When Richard and Judy departed the series in 2001, they were replaced by Coleen Nolan and Twiggy, with Britton and Leslie remaining on Fridays. However, when Nolan and Twiggy proved less popular with viewers, Britton and Leslie took on the full job of presenting the show and brought the ratings back up to around one million. In 2002, after certain allegations were made in the press about his private life, Leslie was dismissed.
Leslie was replaced by Phillip Schofield, developing an on-screen relationship with Fern Britton that was characterised by good humour and giggling.
Lorraine Kelly joined the team in 2003, to co-present with Phillip Schofield on a Monday and a Friday. This was to enable Fern Britton to spend more time with her family. Kelly left This Morning in March 2006 to concentrate on her GMTV programme (GMTV with Lorraine), as well as to spend more time at home. Schofield and Britton presented the show from Monday to Thursday, whilst Ruth Langsford presented the show on Fridays alongside Schofield. Joined by Eamonn Holmes, Langsford also presented the show during school holidays and since September 2008, the real life couple host the show each Friday. However, this wasn't the first time the couple had appeared presenting the show, having presented a special edition in 2002 to coincide with the Queen's jubilee.
In March 2009, Fern Britton announced that she was to quit the show and was replaced by Holly Willoughby in September 2009. On 17 July 2009 Fern Britton presented her final show with a list of friends and celebrities after 10 years of presenting. A relaunch of This Morning took part at the same time and subsequently the ratings rose by 20%.
The show has been presented by only one presenter five times in its history. The first by Madeley while Finnigan was ill with a cold. Three times by Britton; in 2002 following the allegations against Leslie, in 2008 when Schofield was absent due to his sick father, on 2 February 2009 when Schofield became snowed in at home and was unable to make it into the studios, and once on 23 March 2009 when Britton fell ill just before the opening of the show.
In March 2010 Karl Newton announced that This Morning would air seven days a week, with two new one-hour shows being broadcast on Saturdays and Sundays. Schofield and Willoughby present pre-recorded links in between compilations of the past week's programming - beginning on 20 March 2010. Also on 1 March 2010, This Morning began an interactive cooking event, named This Morning Cook In!, where each week, five viewers and a celebrity guest cook along, via Skype, with the chefs on the day of the event. Gino D'Acampo and Phil Vickery have been the two hosting chefs to be a part of This Morning Cook In!.
The current series of the show began on 6 September 2010, the twenty second, with Willoughby and Schofield returning from the summer break. The new series features a brand new kitchen designed by Magnet and an addition to the show called This Morning Hub, where messages from Twitter and Facebook users, as well as emails and texts are read out. The Hub presenters are Steven Mulhern, Emma Willis and Matt Johnson. A new look version of the website was launched for the new series.
On 4 April 2011, ITV confirmed that presenter of travel items on the show Jenni Falconer, and Friday co-presenter Ruth Langsford would cover Holly Willoughby, from 14 April for the first six weeks. Ruth will present the first three weeks with Jenni the final three. Jenni Falconer filled in for Holly, on the 12th April 2011, as it was announced by Phillip Schofield that Holly may or may not be in labour. Schofield confirmed via Twitter that indeed Holly was in labour. Falconer covered the remainder of Willoughby's leave until 14 July 2011.
The show has proven newsworthy on several occasions. This Morning covered new ground by showing a gay partnership celebration live An 2008 interview with Kerry Katona, slurring her words, also attracted coverage.
Read more about this topic: This Morning (TV Series)
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