‘This Morning’ is being forced out of its famous home on the South Bank, under plans to redevelop The London Studios.
The hit ITV daytime show will move to a new location before spring 2018, when the broadcaster’s headquarters is overhauled.
ITV announced their plans to temporarily close their studios and offices at The London Studios on Tuesday 21 February (via Broadcast News), with negotiations to find a new home for ‘This Morning’ and other daytime hits including ‘Loose Women’, ‘Lorraine’ and ‘Good Morning Britain’, currently underway.
A spokesperson said: “We’re looking for alternative London facilities to house our ITV Studios Daytime shows and colleagues while our site on the South Bank is being redeveloped - those plans are well advanced and we are currently in active negotiations.”
The programme has become famed for its view from Studio 8, which has huge windows overlooking the River Thames. The studio was also given an external makeover in 2015 to carry ‘This Morning’ branding, making it easy for passers-by to spot.
The daytime show, which is currently fronted by Phillip Schofield, Holly Willoughby, Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes, has been in its current home for over 20 years, having moved from the Albert Dock in Liverpool in 1996.
However, it seems ‘This Morning’ will move back to the South Bank once the building works are complete, with the spokesperson adding the redeveloped site will have “fantastic office space and facilities for our ITV Studios Daytime shows”.
It remains unclear what this means for other shows currently filmed at the studios, which include ‘Ant And Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway’, ‘The Graham Norton Show’ and ‘Piers Morgan’s Life Stories’, and their future at the site once works are complete.
News of The London Studios’ redevelopment follows the closure of The Fountain Studios in Wembley at the end of last year, which was home to the ‘The X Factor’ and ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ live shows.