Dermot O'Leary and Ore Oduba are set to join the presenting line-up of ITV's This Morning during the summer months, as regular hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield take a two-month break. The guest presenters will also include Rochelle Humes and Alison Hammond, who will co-host various episodes.
O'Leary, 47, best known for hosting The X Factor, will present alongside Rochelle Humes on Friday 31 July, and later with Alison Hammond in August. Ore Oduba, 34, the 2016 Strictly Come Dancing winner, will front Friday episodes with Rochelle Humes on 17 and 24 July.
The announcement comes amid calls for the programme to hire a permanent black presenter. Editor Martin Frizell told staff in a video conference last month: 'There is not a black presenter on any of the programmes today. We plan to change that.' This Morning has never had a main black presenter since its launch 32 years ago.
Frizell acknowledged that finding a suitable candidate 'won't be easy'. An ITV source said that giving a black presenter only the Friday slot could be seen as tokenism. Another insider praised Frizell for being the first ITV boss to pledge such a change.
ITV has faced criticism over the lack of diversity in its daytime roster. The network recently outlined a strategy to 'better represent contemporary British life on screen' by increasing presenter diversity across its highest-profile programmes, starting with This Morning.
Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford will take over the Monday to Thursday slots during the summer break. The new rota was announced after This Morning achieved record ratings during the first week of lockdown, with over 10 million viewers tuning in.
