ITV's new-look breakfast show Daybreak

[alan45]

DAYBREAK host Christine Bleakley will be made to work a bit harder for her £4million deal with ITV - by fronting her own game show as well.
Christine, 32, will present Control - a general knowledge quiz with a twist, where contestants compete for cash prizes.

An insider said: "Details are under wraps, but it's a brand new quiz show which will put Christine firmly into prime time.

"The questions will appear pretty easy but the person asking them will be making it difficult for them to get them right.

"Bosses said when they hired her that they wanted her to do stuff other than Daybreak.

"They're paying her a fortune so they need to get value for money. It will also do her profile some good - as she isn't exactly being seen by many early morning viewers."

Filming will start at the end of the month and the show is being earmarked for a peak-time slot on ITV1.

Christine follows £6million Daybreak co-host Adrian Chiles - who launched his own project, That Sunday Night Show, last month.

She has virtually disappeared from view since she controversially moved to ITV1 from BBC1's The One Show last year.

Daybreak, launched in September, is still pulling in a woeful 770,000 viewers - less than half of its BBC rival Breakfast.

ITV execs had hoped the figure would go up as it found its feet - but are now resigned to it being a flop.

[alan45]

Christine Bleakley and Frank Lampard got engaged in Los Angeles, It was a private moment shared with just two people.





The audience of Daybreak.

[Perdita]

Ian Rumsey has quit his role as the editor of ITV1's flagship breakfast show Daybreak.

Rumsey will remain in his post while ITV search for a replacement. He claimed in an email to staff that his decision to leave the programme had been "tough".

The former head of ITV News started as GMTV editor in May 2010 and oversaw the transition to the new Daybreak format.

Daybreak suffered from poor ratings in its first weeks on air and has fallen behind BBC Breakfast in the morning TV battle.

Hosts Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley's positions on the show have also become a constant source of tabloid speculation.

Alison Sharman, ITV director of factual and daytime, said: "Ian has been an inspirational leader of the team. He's a first-class journalist but, above all, an extremely talented programme maker who has brought enthusiasm and talent to the role."

[Perdita]

Kate Garraway has reportedly quit her role as entertainment editor on Daybreak.

The presenter, who was the only GMTV host to secure a role on its replacement, will leave when her contract runs out in September. Possible replacements are said to include Crimewatch's Rav Wilding.

Garraway's exit is thought to have come as a blow to her colleagues and follows the resignation of her former husband and the show's editor Ian Rumsey last week.

"Kate is a very popular member of the team so this is a huge blow. Morale really is at an all-time low," an insider told the Daily Star Sunday.

ITV1's troubled breakfast show has suffered a number of setbacks since its launch last year, with low ratings leading to the broadcaster admitting that the show had underperformed.

Anchors Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley's roles on the show have also been subject to speculation and BBC Breakfast's Chris Hollins has been tipped as a replacement for Chiles.

Garraway recently signed up to be a series regular on David Walliams's Sky1 panel show Wall of Fame.

[Perdita]

Adrian Chiles's Daybreak presenting duties have been cut down to four days a week.

The 44-year-old will no longer host the Friday edition of ITV's breakfast programme alongside his former One Show colleague Christine Bleakley, a spokesperson confirmed.

"When we signed Adrian in 2010 it was always planned as part of the contract that he would move to four days a week on Daybreak in the second year of the show," the ITV rep clarified.

Although a replacement presenter has not yet been announced, it was reported in June that BBC Breakfast favourite Chris Hollins was being sought to fill Chiles's role.

Daybreak editor Ian Rumsey quit the programme on Wednesday following the prolonged damage caused by poor early ratings.

ITV has denied speculation that it will axe Chiles or Bleakley outright, saying that the stars' pay-offs would cost the channel £4m.

[Perdita]

ADRIAN Chiles and Christine Bleakley have finally been axed by ailing ITV breakfast show Daybreak, it emerged last night.

The pair — hired on multi-million deals in a blaze of publicity last year — are set to leave in weeks.

It comes after the rebranded former GMTV breakfast show flopped, with ratings down to 350,000 on some days — only a FIFTH of rival BBC Breakfast.

Brummie Adrian, 44, is seen by many as "grumpy" and Christine, 32, as an "airhead" according to research.

A source said: "It's game over. ITV have tried everything to make the show work, but viewers are fed up with Adrian and Christine.

"The point of scrapping a well-liked brand like GMTV was to come up with something a lot better — but the opposite's been true."

An announcement is expected after new boss David Kermode arrives on December 1. The former BBC Breakfast editor is understood to have taken the job on condition he could change the hosts.

BBC Breakfast host Chris Hollins, ex-GMTV anchor Eamonn Holmes and Natasha Kaplinsky have been rumoured as possible replacements.

The shake-up could see bigger roles for second-tier Daybreak hosts Dan Lobb and Kate Garraway, Christine was last night made co-host of Dancing On Ice, replacing Holly Willoughby who is off to BBC1 to present new singing show The Voice.

Holly will continue to co-present ITV's This Morning with Phillip Schofield.

Christine, who is engaged to England soccer ace Frank Lampard, and Adrian previously fronted BBC1's One Show.

Adrian joined ITV on a £6million four-year contract while Christine was given a £4million deal.

The Sun

[Katy]

now if they could only get rid of Kate Garraway i might be more inclined to watch it!

[thestud2k7]

getting rid of Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley wont solve the problem fully. let me explaine what i mean

i think the viewers are missing the warmth of gmtv until thats fixed itv will have problems imo

[Chloe O'brien]

now if they could only get rid of Kate Garraway i might be more inclined to watch it!

Aidrian is alright it's Christine who's more annoying and Kate they need to go.

[Perdita]

Sian Williams has reportedly been offered a job on ITV's breakfast show Daybreak.

Last weekend, it emerged that the programme's current hosts Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley will be axed from the series shortly.

Williams currently works on the BBC's rival morning show Breakfast, but reports have now claimed that she has been approached for Daybreak.

The rumours have been fuelled by previous reports that Williams does not want to move to Salford when BBC Breakfast relocates.

"ITV want someone who is equally at home grilling major figures as well as handling the more trivial topics that light up early morning viewing," a source told the Daily Mail.

"They believe they may be able to tempt her to join them because her life revolves around London."

Meanwhile, an alleged insider told The Sun: "If ITV managed to lure her away, it would be a huge coup."

However, a spokesperson for ITV denied the reports, while representatives for Williams and BBC Breakfast declined to comment.

When news of the Daybreak shakeup first leaked, Natasha Kaplinsky and Eamonn Holmes were named as frontrunners for the show.

Holmes has since confessed that he would like to be considered for the job but Kaplinsky appears to have ruled out the possibility.