Josie Gibson has revealed it was Eamonn Holmes who helped her land her first job on This Morning.
The presenter has become a firm favourite on the ITV daytime show since joining the team in 2018, first fronting competition segments before going on to become a regular relief host.
Josie admitted she struggled to break in to the world of presenting after shooting to fame as the winner of Big Brother in 2010, and it was former This Morning host Eamonn who helped her land her dream job.
Speaking to HuffPost UK, she said: “I’ve always done like reality shows, columns and things like that, but I’ve always wanted to be a presenter. I think because of the Big Brother thing, it held me back a bit and nobody wanted to know – and I mean nobody.
“Over two years, I tried and I literally put myself out there. Nobody knows this but I got into [TV presenting] because I did not stop trying. More than 72 people I tried – I had a list of people who I’d asked for a job.
“And then I went on This Morning one day and Eamonn was on there. He said: ‘I like you, you’re different. Go and send some ideas to the bosses at This Morning.’ And then they gave me a chance, and even though I wasn’t great to begin with, my This Morning lot stuck with me. They’ve helped me grow.
“They’d only give me a minute of TV first of all, then they’ve give me a couple more, and then four minutes, five, and now I’ve been presenting the show!”
Recent months have seen Josie fill in as a main presenter more frequently on This Morning, after proving a hit with viewers when she was drafted in at the last minute to cover for a sick Holly Willoughby last November.
Since then, she’s fronted the show with an array of co-presenters, including Holly, Phillip Schofield, Alison Hammond, Dermot O’Leary, Vernon Kay and Craig Doyle.
“I wouldn’t have been where I am without them,” she says of her ITV family. “It’s like going in to an adopted family and them helping you with life skills.”
Josie recently teamed up with Babybel as part of their Active Living Challenge campaign after realising that travelling as part of her role on This Morning means that she spent much of her day-to-day life sat down.
The presenter can often turn up in the most unexpected of places across the UK and abroad as part of her job as a roving reporter, admitting she is now keen to “push” herself to keep more active.
She said: “Travelling knackers me out. When you travel a long way, by the time you get there, you’re absolutely knackered and you want to have a lie down.
“Now, I’m getting up 20 minutes before and just start moving... I’ve been scheduling it in my calendar.”
Josie has teamed up with Babybel to get the nation moving as part of the Babybel Active Living Challenge. For more information, click here.