ITV Good Morning Britain's Ben Shephard steps in to defend Ranvir Singh as Nadine Dorries hits back

Ben Shephard was quick to defend his co-star's line of questioning during the latest episode of Good Morning Britain. The presenter was back on the ITV news programme on Thursday alongside Ranvir Singh. Ranvir has been hosting Lorraine Kelly's self-titled show but has stepped in for Kate Garraway.

Kate was missing from the show at the end of last week with ITV confirming the 55-year-old would be off for at least a few days but did not confirm the reason for her absence. They added that she'll be back "as soon as possible" with many thinking that would be this week.

Last week, Charlotte confirmed: "Kate’s not here. She’s taking some time out to be with Derek at the moment so we’re sending her lots of love," while Kate's fellow ITV star confirmed her husband was back in hospital amid a setback in his Covid recovery.

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But the show pressed on as usual and among the guests was Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries. The MP appeared on the programme via video link from Birmingham ahead of the start of the Commonwealth Games. After discussing the sporting action to come and its importance for the West Midlands and country as whole, the conversation soon moved on.

Ranvir took the opportunity to ask Ms Dorries about the earrings she was wearing. It comes after her comments that Conservative leadership hopeful Liz Truss was wearing "circa £4.50 Claire's Accessories" earrings while criticising Rishi Sunak for wearing expensive clothes.

As Ranvir asked about the cost of the earrings she’s wearing today, Nadine replied: “These were a Christmas present from my granddaughter. She was born in August, so she’s 11 months old, so