ITV have decided that it's out with the old and in with the old again, sort of. Bosses at the channel came to a decision to remove Ben Shepard and Andrew Castle as hosts of GMTV and replace him with The One Show's Adrian Chiles. Not quite a fresh, new, young face, but a familiar one. The former BBC employee has been on the couch with Christine Bleakley for a while now and has also fronted the sports show, Match of the Day but, when ITV waved a pay deal of £6 million in front of his nose, he jumped at the chance to move ship. The channel has decided that a major shake up in necessary and GMTV will be the first show to get one, especially since it's viewership figures sank quicker then the titanic did.

What about Christine I hear you bellow? ITV Bosses are hoping that she too will move over, which would result in Kate Garraway and Emma Crosby getting the boot. However, according to The Sun, Ms Bleakley's spokeswoman has said "She hoped Adrian would stay, but she is happy at The One Show", which pretty much means, 'Whatever, maybe now she can get some more camera time to herself' However, it would seem that the TV company will continue to look for a suitable sidekick for Adrian and it may come in the form of his former colleague Myleene Klass, so Kate wouldn't want to feel comfortable just yet.

By moving to ITV, Adrian now has the chance to cover the World Cup which was an opportunity he said he couldn't pass up, "The chance to front ITV’s football coverage and GMTV would have proved an irresistible opportunity....I can't wait to get started at ITV" In response to what has happened, a source at the BBC said the following “It is his loss not ours..He is going from The One Show which averages over five million viewers to GMTV which struggles to get a million. Nobody has a higher opinion of Adrian than Adrian himself. Our research shows Adrian is not the reason people tune in for The One Show. It is about Christine not him, we will fight tooth and nail to keep her...When we are hosting the Olympics in 2012, something Adrian loves, he will be at home twiddling his thumbs.” Not bitter at all.

With a bruised bum from being kicked off the couch, Ben will now concentrate on working alongside the likes of Colleen Nolen on primetime telly, try to improve his digs about her being passed it on Dancing On Ice and Krypton Factor. God only knows what Mr Castle will end up doing.
 

-Alicia Coyle