Amanda Holden has hit back at the suggestion she’s in line to take over from Cat Deeley as the host of This Morning.
Earlier this week, Woman’s Own magazine ran a story claiming the long-standing Britain’s Got Talent judge could become a permanent presenter on This Morning, in place of its current host, Cat.
However, she was quick to shut this down during Thursday’s edition of Heart Breakfast.
“First of all, I absolutely love Cat Deeley,” Amanda began. “She’s super successful – I’ve always admired her, she’s brilliant, and she’s a real laugh.
“I hate seeing headlines that say, ‘I’m taking over from Cat Deeley’ when I think she’s doing such a good job on This Morning. I’m sure she’s going absolutely nowhere, it is categorically 100% made up by a journalist.”
She continued: “I’m already on the biggest morning show in the country, and that is Heart Breakfast, thanks to our lovely listeners. So, I don’t know where it’s come from it is categorically not true.”
“It’s really annoying me,” Amanda admitted. “Bog off, pitting two women against each other. I hate that.”
Amanda – who guest hosted This Morning a decade ago, filling in when Holly Willoughby was on maternity leave – has repeatedly spoken out against the media’s tendency to create feuds between two women.
In 2016, Amanda’s fellow BGT judge Alesha Dixon recalled: “When I first got the call to do Britain’s Got Talent, it was actually Amanda who was one of the first people to reach out to me and suggest we go out for a coffee and have a conversation. And we did, and it was great.
“We decided in that moment that we weren’t going to allow the media to pit us against one another, and that we wanted to be responsible role models for other women out there to show that women should support one another and not be against each other.”
The former Mis-Teeq singer continued: “We both have daughters and we want to set a great example to them, and I think the media get it now, so all the kind of ‘war’ stories have all gone, and I think people can clearly see that we get on.”
Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden airs every weekday from 6.30am.