Good Morning Britain bosses are reportedly in talks to sign This Morning star Tom Swarbrick to appear on the ITV show.
Former Labour politician Ed Balls has been hosting the morning programme alongside Susanna Reid since Piers Morgan’s sudden exit in 2021.
Producers have reportedly been feeling pressure to “sack” Balls amid a series of controversies, with the most recent being his “shocking” on-air clash with Green Party leader Zach Polanski.
Now, sources have claimed broadcaster Tom Swarbrick is in the running for a regular spot after being an “instant hit” with viewers when he filled in for Balls for three days last week while the presenter was on holiday.
Swarbrick - who presents the weekday Drive show on LBC and regularly appears on This Morning - is reportedly eyeing up a guest presenting slot after receiving rave reviews.
“It’s early days but there are conversations being had about Tom returning in the near future,” a source told The Sun.
The insider added: “He was an instant hit with viewers, managing to connect with them effortlessly through the screen.
“Although he’s an established broadcaster, he’s new to Good morning Britain and it’s thought he’ll help to shake up the status quo a bit.”
The Standard has contacted ITV for comment.
In April, Balls faced Ofcom complaints over his argument with Polanski on GMB.
Green Party leader Polanski, 43, complained about being interviewed by Balls - who is a former Labour shadow chancellor and is married to the foreign secretary Yvette Cooper.
Balls took issue with Polanski calling him a “Labour politician” and accusing him of bias in an exchange that became increasingly strained.
“I haven’t been a Labour minister for 20 years. Unfortunately, Mr Polanski, I lost my seat in 2015 and I’ve not been a Labour politician for 10 years,” he said.
“Luckily, you’re a Green politician, you are the party leader and you seem to be using a rather elaborate device of making accusations against me to avoid answering the questions.”
Later, Polanski refused to answer questions about his former job as a hypnotherapist.
He said: “Your audience will notice that I’m talking about taxing multimillionaires and billionaires, taking wealth away from powerful people and putting it back in our communities, and GMB, 10 days before a local election, rather than asking me about our policies… you want to just do shock-jock tactics.”
Balls interrupted: “Hang on a sec, Mr Polanski. You accused me of being a Labour cabinet minister 16 years ago.
“And when Susanna [Reid] asked you about something you said 10 years ago, you said it’s illegitimate to ask about things you stood for 10 years ago.
“The double standard is a bit shocking.”
Polanski replied: “Two of those things are not the same.
“Someone pretending to be a journalist who’s interrogating the leader of a political party, having a very strong association with a Labour government who are currently in power, is very different to asking me about a story when I wasn’t a politician 13 years ago.”
After the interview, sources claimed ITV bosses were facing mounting pressure to sack Balls.
“It’s clear there is growing pressure to distance Ed from the show but bosses keep backing him. They hope the backlash calms down,” an insider said.
A GMB spokesperson refuted the claims at the time, telling The Standard: "Ed Balls remains a valued member of our presenting team. Any suggestions otherwise are categorically untrue."
Balls also came under fire in 2024 for interviewing his own wife Cooper on GMB. He has been married to the UK’s Foreign Secretary since 1998.
The interview sparked 16,000 complaints to Ofcom. ITV defended the interview at the time but said it would not be repeated.
