In their penultimate programme before the summer, Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary said a fond farewell to This Morning.
Fear not, the Great British Bake Off hosts, 48, and Dermot, 50, have not quit the ITV show permanently, but have instead gone on vacation.
While Alison and Dermot enjoy their time away, Josie Gibson, 38, and Craig Doyle, 52, will stand in for the next two weeks, according to an ITV spokeswoman.
Other summer presenters will be confirmed ‘in due time,’ they said.
Alison announced their time off on Friday’s This Morning, saying it was her ‘final day’ with the former X Factor judge due to their summer holiday, and she was ‘happy.’
A similarly enthusiastic Dermot chirped: ‘Our summer break! Thank you, this is like a dream show for me!’
Fellow Holly Willoughby, 42, of This Morning, is also on vacation from the programme and has been photographed visiting her property in Portugal.
It comes after it was revealed that the ITV programme will ‘basically be Holly’s show,’ with the Wylde Moon creator serving as the only permanent presenter.
ITV has been looking for a successor for Phillip Schofield, who resigned from the network after lying about his affair with a runner, but has apparently opted against hiring a full-time replacement.
Instead, Holly is said to be the ‘Queen Bee,’ and she will be joined’mostly’ by Craig and Josie, with Alison and Dermot filling in on a ‘sporadic’ basis.
An ITV source told the Daily Mail: ‘The idea of finding the next Phil to sit next to Holly has been disregarded by This Morning’s bosses. It will be Holly along with whichever rotating presenter is selected to join her. It will essentially be Holly’s show.
‘Bosses hope that they can put all of the Schofield scandal behind them and start concentrating on the content of the show rather than the twosome presenting it. At least this way there won’t be any falling out.’
Phil’s shocking admission came after claims that Holly and her then-co-presenter had been ‘barely communicating’ since 2009 and that their romance had soured behind the scenes.
Holly left the programme after Phil’s departure, saying she was “shaken, concerned, let down,” and “full of questions” in a now-mocked statement.
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV.
