The Big Breakfast is back on Channel 4 – and fans are desperate for more of the morning show reboot.
Now airing on Saturdays, the popular programme was an AM staple throughout the early 1990s, and even ran until 2002. Alas, it was only recently brought back to screens.
Strictly star AJ Odudu and comedian Mo Gilligan are the current hosts, but we recently saw them welcome back OG presenter Denise Van Outen to the famous sofa as a guest.
But who used to present the show with Denise? And who was hosting when the show first launched in 1992?
Brace yourself, because it’s a long list…
Who were the original presenters of The Big Breakfast?
Originally, The Big Breakfast aired on weekday mornings, not Saturdays.
When the Channel 4 show started in 1992, Chris Evans and Gaby Roslin were at the helm five days per week.
In 1994, Neighbours star Mark Little joined the presenting team to fill in for Chris on certain days.
Later Paul Ross joined the team, taking over different weekdays – though he was replaced by Richard Orford and then Keith Chegwin in 1995.
Gaby left 1996 and Zoe Ball took her place. Mark left that year, too – at which point Keith took his permanent spot for short period.
The Big Breakfast was revamped in 1997, Sharron Davies and Rick Adams became hosts – though they didn’t remain on the sofa for long. Enter Denise Van Outen and Johnny Vaughn.
Denise was on the show for two years, until 1999, and she was replaced by Kelly Brook and later Liza Tarbuck.
When Liza departed in 2000, Denise returned, reuniting with Johnny Vaughn for four months of shows, until their final episode aired in January 2001.
Denise and Johnny were known for their on-screen chemistry, but the former shared in 2017 that a feud over pay soured their off-screen friendship and ultimately led to her 1999 departure.
She told Loose Women: ‘At that time we were like brother and sister. We were best friends, unbreakable…
‘The whole relationship fell apart when we started to renegotiate our contracts because I always felt we worked together as a team and that’s how it should be…
‘But Johnny – and I know there are other influences involved, and agents and everything – but he was negotiating separately from me, which I found out and confronted him…
‘Our friendship had gone in two different directions. For me, it was tarnished. That’s why I left the show.’
After Denise and Johnny’s brief reunion, the show was revamped once more in 2001 and three presenters were given top billing: Donna Air, Amanda Bryam and Paul Tonkinson.
Donna and Paul were short-lived hosts, so by mid 2001 Amanda was co-hosting alongside Richard Bacon.
The show concluded in March 2002, until it was rebooted by Channel 4 with AJ and Mo as presenters in 2021 as a one-off, and brought back for multiple episodes in summer 2022.
The Big Breakfast airs on select Saturdays from 10am on Channel 4.
