GOOD Morning Britain is set for a huge shake-up next month – with the Lorraine show, This Morning and Loose Women also caught up in the changes.
Broadcaster ITV has revealed the significant telly tweaks which will see fan-favourite host Ed Balls, 57, grafting in both the evening on July 4 as well as his 6am Good Morning Britain slot the following day.
It comes as the channel made public its wider plans for the UK General Election coverage.
Polls open at 7am on Thursday, July 4, with votes closing at 10pm and starting to be counted throughout the night to determine the country’s next Prime Minister.
Good Morning Britain will play its part with “up-to-the-minute election news and insights” in an extended show on Friday, July 5, when the results and exit polls projections start to roll in.
Ed will front the coverage alongside Susanna Reid, 53 – who does not normally present on a Friday – as the constituency votes begin to become clear.
GMB – which ordinarily runs a three-hour show – will be extended for an extra 25 minutes, until 9:25am, meaning the Friday Lorraine show which begins at 9am will be scrapped completely.
ITV has also exclusively confirmed to The Sun there will be no Loose Women or This Morning shows that day, in a huge shake-up of the ITV daytime offering.
An ITV spokesperson revealed the Good Morning Britain plans and said: “The studio will host the best, brightest, most outspoken and listened to political policy makers and commentators in the country including leading political punditry pairing Andrew Pierce and Kevin Maguire, former PM Boris Johnson’s communications chief Guto Harri, Labour veteran Harriet Harman, former Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng and newly enobled Labour peer Ayesha Hazarika who will all join as guests as the show continues to cover up-to-the-minute election news and insights through to 9.25am.”
Referring to the removal of Lorraine Kelly’s programme from the TV guide, they added: “ITV will remain on air from 9.25am with Julie Etchingham leading the coverage.
“Will Rishi Sunak stay in Number 10 or will Keir Starmer arrive for the first time? Who will be moving into ministerial offices?
“Dramatic political questions are likely to be answered during the live coverage on Day 2.”
BUSY BEE
It will be a busy time for former Labour shadow chancellor Ed, who will also front the channel’s election day coverage on July 4.
During the Thursday evening slot, he will be joined by his Political Currency podcast co-host and former chancellor George Osborne as well as former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon for Election 2024 Live: The Results airing on ITV1.
The programme itself will be anchored by Tom Bradby, who is a familiar face to ITV viewers after fronting previous election nights in 2015, 2017 and 2019.
Meanwhile, ITV News’ Robert Peston, Anushka Asthana and Paul Brand plus ITV’s leading election analysts Professor Jane Green and Professor Colin Rallings will also feature.
This is in addition to ITV reporters on the ground in a host of constituencies, including the Red Wall and swing seats which could influence the outcome of the election as a whole.
TO THE POLLS
It comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak rolled the dice on a summer election, making his announcement on May 22.
He will battle for his political life as millions take to the polls at the height of British summer time.
He will take on Sir Keir Starmer‘s Labour Party in what is set to be a historic fight for the keys to No10 – with Nigel Farage also throwing a spanner in the works as he announced his intention to stand for the Reform UK party in Clacton after becoming its new leader.
Meanwhile Julie Etchingham, who will feature in ITV’s election night coverage, has also scooped huge praise from TV fans for moderating the recent ITV leaders debate between Rishi and Keir.
