Ben Shephard held back tears as he presented his final Good Morning Britain episode ahead of his This Morning gig.
ITV recently confirmed Ben Shephard would be co-hosting the breakfast show alongside Cat Deeley after months of speculation.
However, Ben has said he did not take the decision lightly as leaving co-host Kate Garraway was a huge deterrent to leaving the GMB show.
Within minutes of the final show kicking off this morning, both Ben and his on-screen partner Kate admitted they were struggling to contain their tears.
Kate said: “Oh my god it’s not even a minute past six and that’s the last time I’ve just realised we’ll hear ‘Good Morning Britain with Ben Shephard and Kate Garraway’. I’m off already, too emotional!”
Ben followed suit and his eyes started tearing up as he was surprised with a montage of all his colleagues and some of his favourite West Ham footballers – including Carlton Cole and Mark Noble – wishing him the best of luck.
Hammers fan Ben became emotional as he watched a clip of former midfielder Mark saying: “Ben you were there for me on my last day as a West Ham player so it’s only right I send you a message.”
“You was there for me the last ever game so have a great day mate, you’ll be crying instead of me this time.”
Laughing to stop the tears, Ben quipped: “That’s Mark Noble! Mr West Ham!”
Charlotte Hawkins also became emotional about Ben leaving and admitted: “It’s quite a moment. We’ll be doing our best to keep it together today.”
Ben agreed and added: “I’m desperately trying to hold this together, we’ve got three hours. It’s lovely to be here for the last time. And we’ve got a busy show to get through as well.”
Kate joked: “We have got three hours of other stuff, it’s not just all Ben Shepard mania. Although it is about 92 percent.”
Later in the show, tributes to Ben from viewers poured in with Kate confessing: “We’re all going to miss Ben in the mornings. The cheeky smile, the risky innuendoes.”
She jokingly added: “Yeah, our producers are slightly relieved about that!”
Entertainment editor Richard Arnold embraced Ben in a big hug and said: “I love you, mate” while also revealing that Ben and Cat’s first This Morning show will air on Monday, March 11.
At the end of the show, all of Ben’s colleagues rushed into the studio to surprise him, with Susanna Reid, Alex Beresford and the West Ham mascot Bubbles running in to present him a montage of his highlight reels.
