This Morning ‘in crisis as viewing ratings plummet’ two months after hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard took over ITV show – as Fern Britton hints ‘she’s in talks to return’

This Morning has been hit by a fresh crisis, with ‘viewing figures plummeting by half’, according to new reports.

Since hosts Cat Deeley, 47, and Ben Shephard, 49, took over Holly Willoughby, 43, and Phillip Schofields, 62, slot, half a million viewers have stopped tuning into the ITV Daytime show.

With over a million viewers watching Ben and Cat’s first day back in March, two months later figures currently stand at less than 500,000 – a dramatic drop.

The decline in viewers comes after former This Morning presenter Fern Britton, 66, hinted that ‘she’s in talks to return to the ITV show’. 

According to The Sun, a source said: ‘Nobody at This Morning thought viewing figures would dip beneath the landmark low of half a million.

The decline in viewers comes after former This Morning presenter Fern Britton (pictured), 66, hinted that ‘she’s in talks to return to the ITV show’

‘The arrival of Ben and Cat was supposed to spark a resurgence and hopefully keep the ratings above the million mark. But within a couple of weeks it became apparent they hadn’t done the trick while their nemesis Morning Live stayed strong.

‘Now there is a massive question mark lingering over the future of the show as it’s difficult to justify the huge costs of making a live, daily show, especially at a time when ad revenues for linear TV are so low.’

This Morning’s rival BBC Morning Live is reportedly raking in between one million to 1.4million views. 

MailOnline contacted ITV for a comment. 

Former This Morning host Fern hinted she’s in talks with This Morning bosses to return to the show, 15 years after her exit.

The presenter revealed that ITV have approached her to make a series of films for the show, after her guest appearance earlier this year.

Speaking to Women & Home magazine, Fern also reflected on her ‘difficult’ divorce from celebrity chef Phil Vickery and vowed she will never marry again.

She said: ‘When my interview finished and I left the studio, I was approached by a [member of the] production team who said, ‘Would you like to do some little films with us?’

Since hosts Cat Deeley , 47, and Ben Shephard , 49, took over Holly Willoughby , 43, and Phillip Schofields, 62, slot, half a million viewers have stopped tuning into the ITV Daytime show

With over a million viewers watching Ben and Cat’s first day back in March, two months later figures currently stand at less than 500,000 – a dramatic drop

A source said: ‘Nobody at This Morning thought viewing figures would dip beneath the landmark low of half a million. Within a couple of weeks it became apparent they [Ben and Cat] hadn’t done the trick while their nemesis Morning Live stayed strong’

This Morning’s rival BBC Morning Live is reportedly raking in between one million to 1.4million views

Fern bid farewell to This Morning in 2009 following a feud with co-host Phillip Schofield

‘That conversation is yet to be had but those little four-minute films now and again? Perfect. If I could just do them in Cornwall, that would be even more perfect!’ 

‘So many of the team that I worked with are still there and it was a real trip down memory lane. It was wonderful to be close to people who meant a lot to me. 

‘The morning that I resigned, I’d not even thought of leaving the show, so I left behind a lot of good stuff and a lot of good friends, so [going back] was lovely.’

Following her Celebrity Big Brother stint, fans were reminded of how good Fern is on camera.

Rumours then began swirling that she may return to This Morning – 15 years on from her dramatic exit following a feud with Phillip Schofield. 

Slightly evading the topic, Fern said: ‘Doing [TV] interviews would be the dream. I’d quite like to do something with politics. I’m not interested in party politics but politicians, and where the minds of those characters that we vote for are at. 

‘I don’t mind what party they’re up for, as long as they’re speaking truly to the country to understand what’s going on in the world, what a f***-up leaving Europe was and how they’re desperately trying to cover up the terrible things that are happening because of that.

‘Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard very much get my vote. It’s very good to see Cat back. She’s been in America, gaining more experience but to viewers, she’s fresh.’