This Morning Yanked Off Air as Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard Drop Bombshell ITV Schedule Shake-Up

Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard had to hit pause during This Morning on Wednesday to break some unexpected news to viewers – the show was getting trimmed down for the day due to a sudden ITV schedule shake-up.

Right at the top of the programme, Cat, 48, kicked things off as usual, welcoming everyone: “Hello there and welcome to your Wednesday’s This Morning,” while co-host Ben, 50, added with his usual charm: “We have got a lot in this show, don’t we?”

But it didn’t take long before Cat let viewers in on the twist. “A lot! It’s a shorter one today,” she said, with Ben explaining: “A little bit shorter but we’re packing loads in”, reported Daily Record.

The show, normally running until 12:30 pm, was cut short by 15 minutes and wrapped up at 12:15 pm instead. The reason? ITV needed to make way for a special news broadcast – ITV News Special: The Chancellor’s Statement.

Because of that change, Loose Women, which usually follows This Morning, didn’t air at all. But fans don’t need to worry – both shows are expected to return to their regular slots on Thursday, March 27, according to The Mirror.

In other This Morning news, Vanessa Feltz has opened up about her departure from the show, describing it as a really tough call. After spending more than 30 years with the programme, Vanessa, 63, stepped away to take up a new role at Channel 5.

Speaking to Metro, she made it clear her decision wasn’t down to any drama behind the scenes. In fact, ITV was supportive, and Vanessa admitted she was heartbroken to go. “I love This Morning, I would never leave it, I couldn’t love it more,” she said. “I would happily have stayed and gone on the back of a motorbike from the This Morning studio straight to Channel 5 and done both.”

She genuinely thought she might be able to juggle both jobs, saying: “I almost believed I’d be able to do that, but I think apparently, it’s not the way it’s done… but I’d have done it, and I think they would have been happy for me to do it too.” Vanessa made it crystal clear – if the Channel 5 gig hadn’t come up, she’d still be right there on that famous sofa.