Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary will reportedly remain on This Morning as the show’s main hosts this summer, after ITV bosses won a dramatic tug-of-war with rival channels.
The show is said to be pinning hopes of a ratings boost on the pair after a fall since Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard took over the main roles in March.
Dermot, 51, and Alison, 49, had both been booked on programmes for rival stations, leaving ITV to go all-out to secure them for the summer schedule.
It was rumoured that Craig Doyle and Josie Gibson would possibly be stepping into the roles, but a source confirmed to The Sun that Friday hosts Alison and Dermot were locked in for weeks to come.
‘Viewers love Alison and Dermot so locking them in for the summer was a priority,’ they said.
‘Josie and Craig are great but execs couldn’t risk losing their best names when a spotlight’s on the show.
‘It’s hoped a decent summer run from Ali and Dermot could get things off to a head-start when Cat and Ben return in September.’
Viewing figures for the morning show have halved to as low as 486,000 since Cat and Ben’s arrival.
However, last Friday’s show – which was hosted by Alison and Dermot – reached 620,000.
Executives panicked that the pair would not be available for the summer schedule after Alison booked two gigs – Alison Hammond’s Big Weekend and Florida Unpacked, a travel show with her son Aiden, 19.
Meanwhile, Dermot was recently announced as the host for a new gameshow for UKTV’s Dave.
ITV told MailOnline that the presenting line up for the summer schedule will be announced soon.
MailOnline contacted representatives for Alison and Dermot for comment.
Earlier on Friday, the bookies were predicting that Dermot O’Leary could be set to ditch his presenting duties on the show, after landing his own game show Silence is Golden on rival channel UKTV’s Dave.
Dermot is set to front his new series alongside comedian Katherine Ryan , 41 – and the exciting gig comes just months after he missed out on replacing Phillip Schofield as full-time host of This Morning.
His upcoming show, which is produced by GMB’s Richard Bacon, will see the studio audience trying not to laugh while being entertained by a string of comedians, in a bid to keep a share of the £250K prize.
However, betting sites are tipping that by spreading his wings elsewhere, there’s a strong chance the presenter could be planning to walk away from his ITV duties.
Following a list of ITV presenters to take up roles away from the channel, betideas.com is predicting Dermot is 11/10 to quit the programme anytime in 2024.
Lee Astley, a spokesperson for the betting site, said: ‘Dermot O’Leary is the latest big ITV name to start branching out from his duties with the channel , with rumours rife that his tenure on ITV’s This Morning is coming to an end.
‘We make him 11/10 to quit the flagship daytime programme altogether and 3/1 to start his own talk show, while appearances on a selection of BBC programmes also seems a possibility.’
According to the site, the presenter has also been rumoured to defect to the BBC and is 7/2 to present The One Show and 4/1 for a stint on Morning Live, while he is 3/1 to start his own TV talk show.
MailOnline contacted Dermot’s representatives for comment at the time.
Speaking about his new presenting gig, Dermot, who fronted X Factor on ITV between 2007 and 2018, told The Sun: ‘When a show like this falls into your lap, you can’t believe your luck.
‘Looking forward to having lots of fun.’
While producer Richard told the publication: ‘The feeling when you’re not allowed to laugh at a funeral? It’s that – the game show.’
Alison, 49, and Dermot, who present the ITV show on Fridays and holiday cover were ‘snubbed’ from the top job with Cat Deeley, 47, and Ben Shephard, 49, replacing Phillip and Holly Willoughby in March.
As well as presenting For The Love Of Dogs on ITV, and Bake Off on Channel 4, Alison has also signed up to host a reported two shows on rival BBC.
One will see her spend 48 hours with some of the UK’s best-loved celebrities and will enter their homes and give fans a glimpse into their glamorous lives in Alison Hammond’s Big Weekend.
It’s also been reported that the TV star has been approached by BBC to front a travel show called Florida Unpacked, which could go head to head in the daytime schedule with This Morning.
It comes following This Morning’s ‘viewing figures plummeting by half’, according to new reports.
Since hosts Cat and Ben took over, half a million viewers have stopped tuning into the ITV Daytime show.
With over a million viewers watching their first day back in March, two months later figures currently stand at less than 500,000 – a dramatic drop.
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