Real reason This Morning boss Martin Frizell left struggling daytime show revealed after Phillip Schofield scandal

THE boss of This Morning, Martin Frizell, has left the show after going eight months without ever reaching the golden milestone of one million audiences.

It was a film that was consistently popular during its time when it was helmed by Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby.

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But it has only been done TWICE during the tenure of current hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley.

Martin announced this week that he was leaving ITV’s flagship show after a decade, sparking several theories about what was behind the decision.

An insider said: “The numbers don’t lie: the record for much of the year has not been good, particularly when you consider the importance of the program to the channel and the huge costs involved in producing a daily live broadcast.

“This Morning has gone through a lot of upheaval over the last two years, but ultimately the only real measure of success is the audience.

“All TV shows have seen their viewing figures decline as more people watch content online, but not at the staggering rate that fell this morning.”

At the start of 2021 they had 1.4m tuned and even the month Phil left, when he had a fling with a much younger rider, he and Holly enjoyed a day where they were 1, 07 m listening.

After this, This Morning was still recording audience figures of between 700,000 and a million. These levels continued until October last year, when Holly left following an alleged plot to kidnap and murder her.

After that, with presenters such as Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary featuring on an ever-changing star rotation, they actually enjoyed a ratings boost.

During the Christmas period and into the New Year, they regularly attracted between one million and 1.3 million viewers each day.

But then Cat and Ben were brought in on March 11, and in just two days this year, they raised over a million.

In September, they hit a new low of 560,000, and as of Monday’s show this week, they had only rebounded to a paltry 627,000.

Fingers crossed that whoever takes over from Frizell can figure out how to turn the sinking ship around.

Jack’s bubble is burst

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JACK WHITEHALL’S next festive road trip has hit a setback after he tried to get Michael Bublé on board – because the singer hates Christmas.

The comic book movie for Prime Video, Jack In Time For Christmas, sees him take an epic journey home for the big day with the help of pals.

Jack phoned Michael after the singer said on Zoe Ball’s radio show that he was a fan of the comic. Jack floated the idea of ​​a festive trip – starting in Lapland and involving “Christmas hijinks”.

But Michael told him: “Jack, I’m so sorry, I love you but I hate Christmas.” I want to be seen as something other than the Christmas guy.

Jack joked: “Then I ended up as his therapist – I’m like, ‘You’re so much more than a Christmas guy’.”

Tune in on December 3 to see what the two men are up to.

FLY-on-the-wall legal documentary series The Firm will return for a second season on BBC iPlayer, as lawyer Aamer Anwar and his team tackle new cases. He said: “Globally, human rights are under attack.

Our team is on the front lines defending these rights, and this series will shed light. »

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CHARLIE COOPER’S Myth Country is back on the box next month, with an alternative Christmas special.

The first series of the show on BBC Three was an autumn hit and this time Charlie takes a look at winter festivals, from barrel burning in Devon to Morris dancing in Gloucestershire.