THIS Morning hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard were caught off guard today when they suddenly appeared live on air nearly 20 minutes earlier than planned amid chaos at ITV.
The pair found themselves broadcasting unexpectedly after an alarm sounded at the nearby ITN building in London during Good Morning Britain.
Susanna Reid and Ed Balls had been hosting the breakfast programme when the alarm began ringing inside the studio.
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After an advert break, viewers were surprised to see Cat and Ben already sitting on the This Morning sofa.
The presenters appeared unaware the cameras were already live as Cat adjusted her white jumper.
She asked someone off camera: “They’re not coming back or they are coming back?”
Moments later she burst into laughter when Ben replied: “What are we doing?”
ITV evacuation throws shows into chaos
The drama unfolded on the same day that ITV was hit with a schedule switch-up.
Good Morning Britain had been scheduled to run for an extra 30 minutes today because Lorraine was removed from the listings.
Host Lorraine Kelly is taking a week off from the programme, meaning GMB was expected to stay on air until 10am.
At 9.40am, Susanna told viewers: “We are on air until 10 o’clock this morning. And we’re on air for the rest of the week.”
Only minutes later, she interrupted the programme after hearing the alarm.
She said: “Just in our ear, we’ve got an alarm sounding. I’m not sure what that is. Director Sam, is there an alarm we should be taking notice of?”
Ed added: “We’re hearing a fire alarm.”
Susanna continued: “In our ears, but you probably aren’t hearing it on air so we will plough ahead. We were actually about to do an interview with Dave Fishwick about scams.”
The presenters decided to head to a commercial break first. Ed joked: “While our ears blare, we’ll go to a break.”
However, when the programme returned, viewers realised something unexpected had happened.
Ben and Cat’s This Morning evacuation shock
Good Morning Britain briefly returned from the adverts with its holding logo.
Suddenly the broadcast cut to Ben and Cat sitting on the This Morning sofa, despite neither presenter realising they were already live to viewers across the country.
Ben was heard saying: “That’s because you wouldn’t let us,” before Cat asked someone off camera: “They’re not coming back or they are coming back?”
Ben then asked: “What are we doing?”
Moments later the This Morning title card appeared, followed by the programme credits as the show began about 20 minutes earlier than planned.
Opening the unexpected broadcast, Cat said: “Hello there and welcome to Monday’s This Morning. Shall we tell them, shall we let them know?”
Ben replied: “This is all very exciting, we are 20 minutes early, Cat Deeley.” She added: “We are early, this is because there was an alarm going off in the GMB studio.”
Ben also confirmed that the Good Morning Britain studio, including Susanna and Ed, had been evacuated.
“We are hopefully going to find 20 minutes of content,” he joked as the pair prepared to fill the unexpected extra airtime.