Susanna Reid has spoken out about the swimsuit photo that made headlines last week, taken while she celebrated Good Morning Britain's National TV Award nomination at O Beach Ibiza with tequila cocktails. The 55-year-old presenter, who has hosted the ITV show since its launch 12 years ago, said she loved the reaction because of her age.
“I loved it because I'm 55 years old, and if you're not going to go out and enjoy yourself in a swimsuit, what are you doing in Ibiza at 55? It was great fun. I was at O Beach, which is one of the best daytime clubs,” she said. The photo, showing Reid with female staff holding placards reading “Vote GMB”, was taken after the show was shortlisted for best daytime programme.
Celebrating the nomination
Reid explained that O Beach staff hold up placards to mark birthdays or significant achievements. “They said to me ‘Have you got anything to celebrate?’ I said ‘yeah we are listed for this incredible award for the first time in years’, and so out came the placards ‘Vote GMB’ and I said there we go, and did a photograph.”
She compared the image to Angela Rippon's famous kick on Morecambe and Wise or her co-hosts Ranvir Singh and Kate Garraway appearing on Strictly. “It didn't feel out of place. It felt like I was appropriately attired for the environment that I was in,” she added.
Reid, who is generally teetotal, said she allows herself one drink a year while on holiday in Ibiza. “I allow myself one day when I have a drink. So I have Paloma, which is tequila and grapefruit. So I have a drink at O Beach, but very, very steady. I don't go mad. One or two to enjoy the day, and then I leave about maybe 8 o'clock,” she said, adding that her sons go to nightclubs while she returns to the hotel for an early night and a morning walk on the beach.
25 years of early starts
Reid will mark 25 years of early morning alarms in the coming months, having started shifts on BBC Breakfast at the end of 2001. She later moved to ITV in 2013 after a stint on Strictly Come Dancing, helping to launch Good Morning Britain following the failure of Daybreak.
“Nobody thought we would last 12 months,” she recalled of the 2014 launch. The show has since become a serious rival to the BBC. Reid said: “There are alternatives and we are that little bit more opinionated we're offering something a bit different, maybe a little bit more edgy and more ITV.”
She praised her co-hosts, including Richard Madeley, Ed Balls, Laura Tobin, and Kate Garraway, calling the latter “a national treasure”. With a contract with ITV News until 2031, Reid said she would carry on for another decade: “As long as it works for the viewer. My kids love what I do and they respect it.”
NTA hopes
On winning a National TV Award, Reid said: “It would be brilliant. But the way I see it, being shortlisted is a triumph. It would mean so much, and I think it would just mean so much to the viewers as well.” The show was also nominated in 2019 but has yet to win.
She highlighted recent interviews with Epstein victims, a father whose baby was cared for by Lucy Letby, and Katie Price, noting: “We've had our biggest month on YouTube since 2019 this year.”
