THIS MORNING FACES FRESH BLOW AS DERMOT O'LEARY FOLLOWS IN ALISON HAMMOND FOOTSTEPS AND LANDS HIS OWN SHOW ON RIVAL CHANNEL - AFTER THE PAIR MISSED OUT ON ITV'S TOP JOB

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Dermot O'Leary has landed his own game show on UKTV's Dave, months after he missed out on replacing Phillip Schofield as full time host of This Morning. 

Dermot, 51, is following co-presenter Alison Hammond's footsteps by spreading his wings and will front the series alongside comedian Katherine Ryan, 41. 

The show, which is produced by GMB's Richard Bacon, will see the studio audience trying not to laugh while being entertained by a string of comedians, in a bid to keep a share of the £250K prize.

Dermot, who presented X Factor on ITV between 2007 and 2018, told The Sun: 'When a show like this falls into your lap, you can't believe your luck.

'Looking forward to having lots of fun.'

While producer Richard told the publication: 'The feeling when you're not allowed to laugh at a funeral? It's that – the game show.' 

MailOnline have contacted UKTV and Katherine Ryan's reps for further comment. 

Alison, 49, and Dermot, who present the ITV show on Fridays and holiday cover were 'snubbed' from the top job with Cat Deeley, 47, and Ben Shephard, 49, replacing Phillip and Holly Willoughby in March.

As well as presenting For The Love Of Dogs on ITV, and Bake Off on Channel 4, Alison has also signed up to host a reported two shows on rival BBC.

One will see her spend 48 hours with some of the UK's best-loved celebrities and will enter their homes and give fans a glimpse into their glamorous lives in the Alison Hammond's Big Weekend.

It's also been reported that the TV star has been approached by BBC to front a travel show called Florida Unpacked, which could go head to head in the daytime schedule with This Morning.   

It comes following This Morning's 'viewing figures plummeting by half', according to new reports.

Since hosts Cat and Ben , took over half a million viewers have stopped tuning into the ITV Daytime show.

With over a million viewers watching their first day back in March, two months later figures currently stand at less than 500,000 - a dramatic drop.

The decline in viewers comes after former This Morning presenter Fern Britton, 66, hinted that 'she's in talks to return to the ITV show'. 

According to The Sun, a source said: 'The arrival of Ben and Cat was supposed to spark a resurgence and hopefully keep the ratings above the million mark. But within a couple of weeks it became apparent they hadn’t done the trick while their nemesis Morning Live stayed strong.

MailOnline contacted ITV for a comment. 

Former This Morning host Fern hinted she's in talks with This Morning bosses to return to the show, 15 years after her exit.

The presenter revealed that ITV have approached her to make a series of films for the show, after her guest appearance earlier this year.

Speaking to Women & Home magazine, Fern also reflected on her 'difficult' divorce from celebrity chef Phil Vickery and vowed she will never marry again.

She said: 'When my interview finished and I left the studio, I was approached by a [member of the] production team who said, 'Would you like to do some little films with us?'

'That conversation is yet to be had but those little four-minute films now and again? Perfect. If I could just do them in Cornwall, that would be even more perfect!' 

'So many of the team that I worked with are still there and it was a real trip down memory lane. It was wonderful to be close to people who meant a lot to me. 

'The morning that I resigned, I'd not even thought of leaving the show, so I left behind a lot of good stuff and a lot of good friends, so [going back] was lovely.'

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2024-07-03T19:46:35Z dg43tfdfdgfd