BBC Breakfast looked a little different on Friday morning as Naga Munchetty took to the red sofa without her usual TV co-pilot Charlie Stayt. The presenter instead appeared alongside Ben Thompson, who also joined the programme for Thursday’s show, due to Charlie’s continued absence.
Charlie and Naga are a familiar duo for viewers thanks to their appearance on the current affairs programme from Thursday to Saturday each week.
Charlie has been a BBC broadcaster since 2006 and has been presenting alongside Naga since 2014. This week, however, Ben stepped in to report the news and headlines with Naga.
But the shake-up in the presenting lineup is not the only change that BBC Breakfast has made way for. Due to the ongoing coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the show was moved from its flagship channel, BBC One, to BBC Two, during the broadcast.
On Thursday, viewers were encouraged to switch channels if they wanted to stay with the Breakfast team, while BBC One aired coverage of the first day of the football tournament which is taking place in New Zealand.
Ben explained to viewers at home: “You’ve been watching Breakfast on BBC One. Now, we are going to leave you here on BBC One because coming up next is live coverage of the Women’s World Cup in New Zealand.”
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© BBCNaga continued: “If you want to stay with us, you can turn over to BBC Two. We’re going to be on there until 9 o’clock.” Although Ben has been filling in for Charlie and Jon Kay this week, he is no stranger to working on the frontline at the BBC.
He first joined the news programme as a producer investigating stories from around the globe, before eventually moving in front of the camera in 2008 to become BBC’s Middle East Business Correspondent.
© BBCWhile in the role, Ben was residing in Dubai and spent lots of time travelling around the Middle East and beyond as he explored the region on the ground as a reporter.
Since returning to the UK, however, he’s landed a more regular spot on BBC Breakfast and has become to be a familiar face for viewers.
© BBCAudiences were thrilled to see more of Ben on the red sofa this week. One person tweeted: “Always great to see Ben on the sofa #bbcbreakfast.”
As a second tweeted a video of him from the show: “Ben Thompson trying to play the flute live on #BBCBreakfast,” followed by a grinning emoji. A third wrote: “Ben is my favourite presenter he’s great.”