Good Morning Britain viewers were left a little confused on Monday morning when they tuned into ITV to see the current affairs programme replaced by coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The morning news show, which is fronted by Susanna Reid, Kate Garraway and Ben Shephard, usually airs from 6am until 9am every weekday before handing over to Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women.
However, all of ITV’s daytime shows were taken off air to make way for the channel’s coverage of the football tournament.
Taking to Twitter, viewers were quick to express their disappointment over the show’s absence. One person wrote: “Nothing like #GMB being taken off the air to leave you confused as to what day it is,” while another added: “Where is Good Morning Britain? Why would I want to watch Italy play football at 07.00am.”
© Ken McKay/ITV/ShutterstockA third confused viewer tweeted: “Has @GMB stopped over the summer? I don’t recall them doing that before? #GMB,” while another put forward a suggestion for the broadcaster, writing: “Why don’t they put football on @itv2 and leave @GMB on @ITV1 like they do on the #BBC when they have football or tennis on. Don’t just take news off for football.”
While both Good Morning Britain and Lorraine won’t be broadcast on Tuesday [25 July], viewers can tune into This Morning, which will start at the later time of 11.15am and will run for just over an hour before the Loose Women take over at 12.30pm.
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This Morning will air as usual on Wednesday [26 July] and Friday [28 July] at 10am, but will run at a later 10.45am slot on Thursday [27 July].
© Ken McKay/ITV/ShutterstockAs for Good Morning Britain, the show will be back in its regular 6am slot on Thursday and Friday. Meanwhile, Lorraine will air as usual on Wednesday and Friday and Loose Women will return on Thursday.
The shake-up comes amid a turbulent period for the broadcaster after one of its flagship daytime shows, This Morning, faced uncertainty following Phillip Schofield‘s departure.
© Ken McKay/ITV/ShutterstockThe 61-year-old presenter left ITV in May following reports of tension between him and his co-host Holly Willoughby.
Then in June, Phillip admitted to lying about an affair with a younger male colleague on the programme. He said in a statement that he was “deeply sorry” for lying and that the relationship, which is now over, was “unwise, but not illegal”.
Since Phillip’s exit, Holly has been hosting alongside various different relief hosts, including Josie Gibson and Craig Doyle.
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Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary have been covering for Holly during her break from the show. While the presenter has not publicly addressed her absence, it’s thought that she is currently taking her annual summer holiday and will return to the programme in September. Holly’s exact return date has yet to be announced.