ITV will call upon a trusted pair of presenters to fill the schedule gap vacated by the cancelled Jeremy Kyle show.
The broadcaster plans to extend This Morning by 30 minutes to permanently cover the late-morning slot, which has been filled by programmes like Judge Rinder on a temporary basis since ITV axed Kyle after a guest committed suicide,
Jeremy Kyle was ITV's most popular daytime show, with around a million viewers. According to the Mirror , production companies were asked to pitch ideas for a replacement.
But bosses decided to "stick with what we know ITV viewers love" by offering This Morning presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby more airtime instead of creating a new show. The Mirror quotes an ITV 'insider ', who said: "Nothing will ever rate as well as Jeremy Kyle at that time, it’s just a fact."
This Morning will reportedly be half-an-hour longer and air 30 minutes earlier than it does now, with a new 10am to 12.30pm slot. Lorraine Kelly's show will shift to a 9am start, with Good Morning Britain on from 6.30am.
An ITV spokesman said: "We will announce our plans in due course."
Jeremy Kyle was axed in May, shortly after Steve Dymond committed suicide a week after failing a lie detector test on the show. Critics slammed the show for exploiting vulnerable participants.
ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall announced the show's cancellation in May.
She said in a statement: "The Jeremy Kyle Show has had a loyal audience and has been made by a dedicated production team for 14 years, but now is the right time for the show to end.
"Everyone at ITV's thoughts and sympathies are with the family and friends of Steve Dymond."
