The real life of This Morning's Ben Shephard - Harry Potter role, strictly ban and X factor snub

Ben Shephard will soon be joining fellow presenter Cat Deeley to host ITV daytime show This Morning. The pair are taking over in the wake of the exits of long-time sofa hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby.

But it’s not the first time Ben has graced the This Morning sofa. The 49-year-old has previously filled in for Phillip Schofield and temporarilyjoined Holly Willoughby on the show.

Viewers will soon however see Cat and Ben as the permanent faces of This Morning, Monday to Thursday, while Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary will present the show each Friday.

Ben is already one of ITV’s most popular presenters and a familiar face of daytime TV thanks to his long presenting stints on GMTV followed by Good Morning Britain (GMB) which he has co-hosted for the last 10 years.

On GMB Ben was regularly seen co-hosting the 6am show alongside Susanna Reid, Kate Garraway, Ranvir Singh and Charlotte Hawkins.

Ben had a particularly close friendship with Kate who he supported when her husband Derek Draper suffered long-lasting symptoms from coronavirus. The pair shared the sofa when Kate first returned to work following her husband’s death aged 56 in January.

Ben also fronts the ITV quiz show Tipping Point, has hosted Ninja Warrior and What’s Cooking?

The Essex-born TV star started his career in 1998 on Channel 4 presenting The Bigger Breakfast, where he worked alongside Dermot O'Leary and Josie D'Arby.

Speaking about that time previously on GMB, Ben said: “What people might not realise, maybe some, is that Dermot and I started on television together, way, way back in the original carnation of Channel 4’s T4," he said.

He continued: "And there is someone else there, you might recognise, television’s Andi Peters, who gave us