Mornings

Vanessa Feltz, who was sometimes seen on This Morning on ITV, engaged to musician Ben Ofoedu in 2006 but, despite planning to tie the knot in the years since, never got married

Vanessa Feltz has admitted she feels “demoralised and unattractive” when potential relationships don’t work out.

The broadcaster has been introduced to men following her split with musician Ben Ofoedu, 53, earlier this year, but despite the rendezvous, nothing significant has stuck, it is thought. Vanessa, 63, became tearful when she confirmed she and Ben ended things in 2023, having been together for nearly 20 years.

Speaking this week, the unlucky-in-love presenter said she doesn’t use dating websites and prefers friends to introduce her to potential partners. However, she added: “It’s hard. I’m too famous to be on websites. I would like to be introduced by a friend, but when it doesn’t work it is hard not to feel demoralised and unattractive.”

Vanessa, originally from north London, was married to Michael Kurer, a surgeon, for 15 years until their divorce in 2000. She shares two children and four grandchildren with Michael. Recalling her split with Michael, Vanessa said in a previous interview she “was too open” with her daughters “about information and how I was feeling”.

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But Vanessa began dating Ben as her children grew older, and enjoyed a long relationship with the singer. They became engaged in 2006 but, despite planning to tie the knot in the years since, never got married and parted ways in 2023. Speaking about the split, Vanessa previously said: “It’s clear that it’s over and I really do feel that once the trust in a relationship is gone then you can’t really get it back and that’s what I would tell anyone else to do.

“And so I just wanted to say that obviously I feel incredibly sad and I am pretty disappointed and shocked and all those horrible things but also full of resolve. I am not going to let this defeat me.”

Her followers on Instagram showed huge support for the star, who was on Celebrity Big Brother in 2001, around one year after her divorce.

The latest heartbreaking admission, said to a Daily Mail reporter at an event this week, comes as Vanessa continues to present her self-titled TV show on Channel 5. Devised as a chat show to rival Loose Women in the lunchtime slot, the programme sees Vanessa discuss topical issues and debates with a panel of guests, often including model Nicola McLean, presenter Sarah Cawood and journalist Afua Hagan.

The programme has been renewed for a second series, and TV sources say Vanessa is tipped to take some of the Loose Women audience when the ITV show goes down from 52 weeks to 30 next year.

This Morning fans rushed to social media to complain about Alison Hammond’s constant mispronunciation of rock and roll legend Elvis during her chat with Priscilla Presley

Of late Alison Hammond has had nothing but praise heaped on her as she became the nation’s sweetheart. But it looks as though her run of good luck may be coming to an end as she has found herself on the receiving end of harsh criticism by viewers of This Morning.

The 50 year old TV presenter, who had her first taste of fame back in 2002 while appearing on Big Brother, was introducing her next guest when viewers noticed that she was constantly mis-pronouncing the name of Priscilla Presley’s legendary ex husband – Elvis. Instead she kept referring to him as Alvis.

Priscilla attended the popular daytime TV show and sat on the infamous sofa with Dermot O’Leary and Alison to promote her latest memoir, Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis.

But before Priscilla started talking about her life with the rock and roll legend before and after their split, fans felt the need to air their feelings on X. One person said: “Who is Alvis, Alison?”

Another added: “Just waiting for Priscilla to ask who the hell is this person Alvis you keep mentioning.” A third person joked: “She fell in love with Alvis. Good job Elvis didn’t find out about that!”

Meanwhile a fourth added: “I’d love to see Priscilla correct Alison on name pronunciation.” “Just waiting for Priscilla to ask who the hell is this person Alvis you keep mentioning,” said a fifth.

And sharing the same sentiment, a sixth chimed in saying: “Wasn’t Alvis one of those Chipmunks?” During her interview on This Morning, Priscilla opened up on the moment she first met the iconic star, who sadly passed away in 1977 at the age of 42 from a cardiac arrest.

The star, 80, was only 14 at the time she met Elvis in 1959, who was 10 years her senior at the time. By 1968, the pair welcomed their only daughter into the world, Lisa Marie Presley.

But due to his demanding career as a rock and roll icon, hectic travelling schedule and a string of infidelities, Priscilla finally had enough of the marriage.

And it was at this point she embarked on an affair in 1972 and finalised their divorce the following year. After her divorce, Priscilla met Brazilian screenwriter Marco Garibaldi and they welcomed a son named Navarone, in 1987.

In her latest memoir, the businesswoman and author recalls the moment Elvis was considering hiring a hitman to murder her boyfriend, Mike Stone who worked as a karate Instructor.

Elvis struggled with the idea of Priscilla being with another man she entered into a relationship with Mike while legally married.

But this came after she found out a host of women had been sending the singer letters to their home address, and this apparently, was enough proof she needed that their marriage had come to an end.

In the book, according to Fox News, she wrote: “When I turned the key in the mailbox, however, what poured out wasn’t bills or junk mail. The mailbox was stuffed full of letters from girls. I finally held written proof of what I’d always feared. I was deeply hurt, but I was also furious. I called Elvis and demanded an explanation.”

She continued: “When that tactic failed, he resorted to saying the girls were all lying. This time, though, turning the tables didn’t work. If Elvis was having affairs that were none of my business, then it was none of his business what I was doing. The close friendship that Mike and I had developed turned into an affair.”

But on learning about her affair, she revealed: “Elvis found the thought of me with another man unbearable. In the weeks after my departure, he told the guys that Mike had to die. He even asked Joe [Esposito] to find a hit man. Eventually, Elvis was talked out of eliminating Mike. Joe warned me to be careful. When I offered to bring Lisa [Marie Presley] to Vegas for one of Elvis’s shows, Joe advised against it.

Priscilla added: “Seeing me might set Elvis off. Over time, and with a lot of persuasion from his father and the guys, Elvis gradually calmed down and gave up the idea of killing Mike, thank God.”

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This Morning’s Cat Deeley appeared to make a shock confession regarding the ITV show’s competitions during Monday’s episode

A cringe-worthy moment unfolded on This Morning when Cat Deeley seemed to confess she and co-presenter Ben Shephard “cheat” whilst hosting one of the programme’s competitions.

The pair returned to television screens on Monday (September 29) with a fresh edition of This Morning, where regular contributors Gyles Brandreth and Ashley James joined them.

Cat and Ben started concluding the episode’s news section and revealed details about This Morning’s Spin To Win competition, which invites viewers to ring in for a chance to participate in a game and secure cash prizes on the ITV programme.

Ben outlined all the competition’s terms and conditions, whilst Cat disclosed that viewers could bag up to £12,000, with both wishing fans the best of luck.

“Yes, good luck!” Cat exclaimed, before turning to Ben and enquiring: “Are you saying that to me? Because of the competition?”

He responded: “Well, we know what happened when we’ve done this in the past,” prompting Cat to suddenly blurt out: “We cheat a little bit!”

Gyles appeared stunned by her admission and swiftly protested: “I don’t think we do!”.

“We know, we never have, we never will. We can’t!” Ben also interjected. Beaming, Cat declared: “We will never cheat! Sometimes, people don’t pick up the phone..”

Gyles and Ashley burst into laughter whilst Ben kept attempting to silence his co-presenter, with Cat smirking directly at the camera, reports Wales Online.

“You know Ralf [Little] and Will [Mellor] have that button that they can hit when someone’s going to say something… Someone should’ve hit that!” Ben remarked to Cat, who carried on chuckling.

The competition segments on This Morning are typically hosted by Andi Peters or Jeff Brazier, with stars like Kate Lawler occasionally stepping in to announce the competitions.

Cat and Ben helm This Morning from Monday to Thursday each week, while Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary usually present the ITV show on Friday mornings.

Gyles and Ashley are frequent guests on the programme, offering their insights on the latest news and headlines.

Other regular contributors include LBC’s Nick Ferrari, Nicola Thorpe and Tom Swarbrick. The ITV programme recently invited former GMB host Piers Morgan to discuss the day’s news.

This Morning airs on weekdays at 10am on ITV1

Alison Hammond has expressed her ‘relief’ at This Morning’s win at the NTAs last night after Dermot O’Leary said the show has been ‘through the mill’

Alison Hammond has expressed her ‘relief’ at This Morning’s big win at the National Television Awards last night. The presenter, 50, provides cover on ITV’s flagship magazine show alongside Dermot O’Leary on Fridays and phoned into the programme after the big win to tell regular hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard just how grateful she felt that they had emerged victorious from the public vote.

The programme, which has aired on ITV since 1989, won in the Daytime category, having fought off competition from Scam Interceptors, Loose Women and James Martin’s Saturday Kitchen. The show managed to claim the title back after two years of losing out to The Repair Shop and The Chase.

Alison said: “I’m still buzzing from last night, what a brilliant night. It was just lovely. We hadn’t had it for two years running now and what’s so incredible is when our audience vote for us, we know we’re doing okay. It was just such a relief and we’re just so grateful that everyone picked up the phone and voted for us.”

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The former Big Brother star has also made a name for herself interviewing A-List celebrity guests on the programme and has chatted to superstars like Britney Spears, Ryan Gosling and once ‘married’ The Rock on the show. But just before hanging up, she teased that she was off to interview Barbie star Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell.

Over the last few years, the show has been through numerous lineup changes following the departure of long-serving hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield. The duo, who began presenting together in 2009, first came under fire when they were alleged to have jumped the queue to file past Queen Elizabeth’s coffin in September 2022.

Then, Phillip, who first appeared on the programme in 2002 and initially presented alongside Fern Britton, admitted to an ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair with a younger colleague, and subsequently stepped down from the show and ITV altogether. Holly followed suit soon after security guard Gavin Plumb was charged in connection with a scheme to abduct and kill her.

He was found guilty and last year was sentenced to a minimum of 16 years behind bars.

A litany of hosts like Josie Gibson, Craig Doyle, Rochelle Humes and Andi Peters took their place over a period of weeks before Cat and Ben were given the top jobs.

But speaking in the winners room after their victory, former X Factor host Dermot, 52, acknowledged that the show had been ‘through the mill’ over the last few years, reports Manchester Evening News.

He said: “There’s a team that have worked on the show since I’ve started who have had to endure an awful lot of s**t.

“And they have turned up to work every day with the greatest grace and professionalism and uncertainty, and they’ve never done anything but put their hearts and souls into this job.

“Two and a half hours of live telly every day is quite something, but to endure it under the spotlight of being on the front page of the news. This show holds a mirror up to Britain and it also tries to entertain.”

He also noted that the team was thrilled to win, as he added: “There’s never an arrogance about this. We’re genuinely humbled by it. It means an awful lot, especially for those people who have been through the mill.”

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This Morning hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley looked back on their schooldays with Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary

This Morning star Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley were seen giggling over their old school photos ahead of their return to the ITV programme. Hosts Ben and Cat laughed about their school days with Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond in a new promo for the daytime show.

The main hosts for the show will return to our screens on September 1 while Alison and Dermot will be back hosting on Fridays from September 5. In the promo, Alison told Cat that she “hasn’t changed” while she added about Dermot’s sweet snap: “Ain’t he lovely?” Their childhood photos are lined up under their initials – A, B, C and D.

Ben and Cat have been on a summer break while Emma Willis, Andi Peters, Sian Welby and Rochelle Humes have been guest-hosting for the stars.

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Along with the return of the regular hosts, Strictly judge Shirley Ballas, West End star Jodie Prenger and TV vet Dr Scott Miller will be judging the Pup Idol segment as they’re given the difficult task of picking a pet dog to win a role on Coronation Street.

Meanwhile, Dr Zoe Williams will help viewers reduce their biological age in a new series called Hack Your Age. On Monday morning, Rylan Clark welcomed back Josie Gibson to the show after she took some time away to film her solo series.

Explaining her absence from the show, Josie replied: “I have been really busy. I have been going all around the South West; it has been brilliant.

“But do you know the last time I saw you? You were picking up a little BAFTA.”

“Oh, yes, it was,” Rylan laughed as he recalled, “I think we’d both had a little beverage that night, and I just remember strolling out and I said, ‘Jose, I’ve got to go bed’.”

“You sneaked out,” Josie chimed in as Rylan continued: “I did a sly exit.”

“Is that your first BAFTA?” Josie asked before adding, “I am so proud of you.” Cat’s return to This Morning comes after her shock split from husband Patrick Kielty.

This Morning host Cat and Irish comedian, 54, and who share sons Milo, seven, and James, five, revealed last month that they had taken the decision to end their 13 year marriage, stressing that ‘no other party’ was involved.

The former couple shared a joint statement on July 29 that read: “We have taken the decision to end our marriage and are now separated. There is no other party involved. We will continue to be united as loving parents to our children and would therefore kindly ask for our family privacy to be respected. There will be no further comment.”

This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player.

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TV presenter Fiona Phillips was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s back in 2022 and the pair recently opened up about dealing with the disease in their candid new book

This Morning boss Martin Frizell has said that the Phillip Schofield drama “helped” him while dealing with Fiona Phillips’ Alzheimer’s diagnosis. He recently said that the drama at work gave him something else to focus on while things were all go at home.

Fiona was 61-years-old when she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s in 2022. Since then, husband Martin has been by her side caring for her.

Martin talked about how he has coped in his wife’s new memoir, Remember When: My Life With Alzheimer’s, which Martin co-wrote along with journalist friend Alison Phillips. It comes after John Torode’s wife Lisa Faulkner breaks her silence after his MasterChef sacking.

During the diagnosis, Martin was also dealing with some drama while working at This Morning. However, he said that this managed to take “his mind off Fiona at home”. In 2023, This Morning’s Phillip resigned after more than 20 years on the programme after having an affair with a younger colleague.

Co-host Holly Willoughby then resigned later after being informed by police of a plot to kill her. Martin has said that due to being busy at work, it gave him some “structure and normality”.

Speaking in the book, Martin wrote: “I was busy with work at that time. We’d had big changes at This Morning with Phillip Schofield leaving, Holly Willoughby stepping down after the pressures of a serious kidnap threat, and Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard becoming the new hosts in March 2024.

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“It meant there was a lot to sort out to make the show the best it possibly could be, but being that busy actually helped me. I loved going into work – not because it was an escape from what was going on at home, but because it gave me structure and normality.

“And it meant that I didn’t have time to think about what was to come for Fiona. For both of us.” While this was going on, Martin shared that Fiona’s “long-term memory was functioning better than the short-term” but she found it difficult to leave the house due to becoming more anxious.

Martin quit This Morning a year after the This Morning scandal after first joining in 2014 as editor of Loose Women before taking over at This Morning.

In a statement last November, he said: “Next year I’m expecting my family priorities to change so I need to free up time for them. I love my team at ITV and will miss them and the thrill of live telly but it’s an always on, 24 hours a day, seven days a week commitment and I won’t be able to do both.

It’s been a privilege to lead truly great presenters and producers, between us we’ve turned out more than six thousand hours of live topical telly, that’s around 20,000 items and the gongs are always nice.”

Martin discusses in the book at Fiona is now unable to “brush her teeth, shower and use her phone” without his help. He said that his wife “wouldn’t know how to turn the kettle on now” and now “sits and stares for most of the day”.

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This Morning’s Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary were on hand to deliver the latest headlines to ITV viewers on Tuesday’s show.

Emotions were at an all-time high during Tuesday’s instalment of This Morning.

During the ITV show, viewers saw Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary speak to one dad whose son has suffered severe burns.

At the time, nine-year-old William Tyler ran across boiling hot sand, which had still been scorching from a disposable barbecue.

As a result, William needed multiple surgeries on his burns. During the show, his father, Toby, was overcome with emotion as he recalled hearing his son in pain.

Alison said, “So, you’re having a lovely time. You’re there with your wife Claire, your daughter Lily, and William, having a lovely time on the beach. Then the two kids go off, have a little run, and the next thing you hear is your son William, screaming.”

He said: “Yeah, that was a-“, Toby started to choke up with emotion as he recalled the horrific moment.

Realising his struggle, Alison commented: “Oh, I’m so sorry.”

Toby added: “It was a really hard point because it was so out of the blue, and it’s something that doesn’t go away. They were literally just playing, and his feet sank into sand where the barbeque had been several hours before.

“We were clueless about what had happened. We thought’ he’d trodden on something sharp, so it took a minute to work out what had happened.”

Alison told viewers the sand was still extremely hot, despite it being hours after the barbecue had been moved.

He added: “As soon as he comes out, you could see his foot basically stripped of the skin. I think that was the difficult thing. It looked extraordinary.

“We couldn’t work out what he’d done, we thought something had pierced it to take the skin off, there was no blood. Literally, the skin had died across his foot straight away.”

With their car far away, Toby had to carry his son on his shoulders as he recalled William being in ‘extraordinary pain’.

Praising his son, Toby added: “He was incredible really, just managing to sustain things whilst we got him to hospital.”

After William was given some pain relief, he had to be transferred to another hospital to a burns unit, where he spent nine days.

In the end, the child needed skin grafts to replace the skin on his feet.

This Morning is available to watch on ITVX.

This Morning’s Cat Deeley was left lost for words when she found out that she is in fact 15 years younger

This Morning’s Cat Deeley was left speechless as she discovered her biological age after confessing to bad sleeping habits.

During Thursday’s (July 17) episode of the ITV hit chat show, Cat, 48, and co-host Ben Shephard, 50, made a return to our screens as they presented the day’s top stories.

However it was one segment that took the pair by surprise as they took a medical test to discover what their biological age is.

Joined by longevity and biohacking expert, Dr. Alka Patel Cat asked: “Tell us, what is biohacking?” Dr Alka explained: “Biohacking is all about taking control of your health. If you split the word up, what you’re taking control of is your biology and the hacking is getting into your control centre, to really understand how you’re made.”

Keen to find out more, Cat further asked: “So what’s the difference between your biological age and the other age.”

Dr Alka revealed: “This is super important to know is that getting older and ages are two different things and most people don’t think of it like that. Your biological age is based on the level of your cells.”

Eager to find out how old they really are, Dr Alka, 53, went first and revealed that her biological age is 20. A shocked Ben replied: “What!” as Cat jumped in: “How did you do that?”

Dr Alka admitted: “I’ve been testing for a number of years and over the years that biological age hasn’t shifted.”

Turning attention to Ben, he went on to say: “My chronological age, not sure I’ve told you this but I’m 50, so we’re going to find out my biological age.”

The TV star, who prides himself on living a healthy lifestyle and regularly exercises, was left unimpressed as he discovered his biological age was only 46-years old.

Turning to the camera, he shouted: “46, is that it? I’m quite surprised about that because I think I look after myself, I get a decent amount of sleep, train really hard and I feel fit and healthier than I ever have in my life. I’m really fascinated that it’s only four years younger.”

Moving on to Cat, she admitted that taking the test was a ‘nightmare’ as she had to take the test twice. It was clear that Cat was expecting to also have a high age as she revealed: “I’m a terrible sleeper but I am healthy.”

Cat, 48, was left lost for words when she found out that she is in fact 15 years younger, with a result of 33-years-old.

A stunned Cat replied: “I could cry” as Ben jumped in and joked: “33! I want a recount.” Cat added: “I don’t know how I’ve done it because I certainly don’t sleep, which I know is one of the most important factors.”

This Morning continues on ITV1 from 10am every weekday and is available to stream back on ITVX.