Good Morning Britain was taken off air on Monday morning after a fire alarm forced the evacuation of its studio. Presenters Ed Balls and Susanna Reid had just returned from an ad break when the alarm sounded, cutting the programme short.
The show had been extended to run from 6am to 10am as part of ITV's schedule changes for the Cheltenham Festival, replacing Lorraine and Loose Women. However, the extra 30 minutes were cut short when the alarm went off.
This Morning presenters Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard were caught off guard as they appeared on screen 20 minutes early. Ben explained: 'The GMB studio has been evacuated… They’re all absolutely fine, but they had to leave the studio.'
An ITV spokesperson confirmed: 'Due to an unscheduled fire alarm at the Good Morning Britain studio this morning, our team had to leave the set temporarily. While they were able to re-enter the building shortly afterwards, the programme had to end earlier than planned. We apologise to viewers for the disruption.'
The incident comes after GMB moved to ITN's Gray's Inn Road building earlier this year, while This Morning now broadcasts from a separate studio in Covent Garden.
