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New Daybreak presenters – Who might get the job?


It’s been a hectic week for ITV’s troubled breakfast show after a leak revealed that presenters Christine Bleakley and Adrian Chiles are to be replaced by new ‘Daybreak’ presenters.

When ITV nabbed Bleakley and Chiles from under the BBC’s nose and ‘Daybreak’ rose from the ashes of GMTV, nobody could have predicted how much of a shambles the show would become.

The multi-million pound duo reportedly had no idea that they were being dumped by the show when the news was revealed last weekend.

However, with Chiles presenting ITV’s football coverage and Bleakley set to host the new series of ‘Dancing on Ice’, the pair will manage fine without the early morning gig that brought them to the station.

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So who might replace them?


Bookmakers William Hill rank former ‘BBC Breakfast’ presenter Natasha Kaplinsky and Eamonn Holmes, who presented ‘GMTV’ for 12 years, as favourites – 4/7 and 4/6 respectively.

Eamonn Holmes today came out to say he “would like to be in the frame” for the job.

However a spokesperson for Kaplinsky said, “Natasha has already done her fair share of early starts on ‘BBC Breakfast’, so I can't imagine she'd want to go back to those anti-social hours."

Former ‘GMTV’ presenters Fiona Phillips (5/1), Andrew Castle (6/1), Ben Shepherd (10/1), Kate Garraway (12/1) and Penny Smith (14/1) are all in the running but, having been booted for the new stars, surely the channel wouldn’t want to be seen crawling back to their more successful predecessors?

Elsewhere on the list are Johnny Vaughan (8/1) and Denise Van Outen (16/1), who had success hosting Channel 4’s ‘Big Breakfast’ between 1997 and 2001, they have chemistry but we’d be surprised if ITV wanted a relic of the nineties for their show.


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Chris Hollins (6/1) is a likely choice, having revealed he won’t be leaving London to join the BBC at their new base in Salford. Could he be persuaded to take the gig?

Fellow ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ alumnus Russell Grant (12/1) may be a popular name at the moment following his cannon shenanigans at the weekend but he’s not exactly suitable, as well-loved as he may be.

Dan Lobb (10/1) is one of the most (and only) popular aspects of the current ‘Daybreak’ and a promotion to lead presenter wouldn’t be totally out of the question.

This leaves Mark Durden-Smith (8/1) and Laura Whitmore (10/1), as well as Phillip Schofield (16/1) and Kate Thornton (20/1) who are only really on the list because ITV employs them.

Durden-Smith and Whitmore are former and current hosts of ITV 2’s ‘I’m a Celebrity’ sister show. Whitmore in particular is unlikely because she only started presenting the show just over a week ago.

Who do you want to present the show? Or would you rather ITV just extended the Nightscreen by a few more hours?