Richard Arnold is "taking a break" from ‘Good Morning Britain’.
The 48-year-old presenter – who is the Entertainment Editor for the ITV’s breakfast show – revealed on air this morning (22.12.17) that he won’t be returning to the programme after the festive break as he’s decided to "retire from the public life."
He said: "I’m retiring from public life. I’m disappearing for a while – who knows when I’ll be back. You know what it’s like in this business."
‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!’ star Iain Lee – who came third in the competition – will be filling in for him "momentarily" but he doesn’t know how long.
He said on his replacement: "Momentarily, I’m told, but who knows?"
A clip was then shown of Iain relaxing in Richard’s dressing room while drawing beards on pictures of him to "save money" replacing them with photos of himself.
He said: "Hello Richard, Iain Lee here. I’m only filling in for you for a couple of weeks so please don’t panic.
"I haven’t got time to get my own publicity pictures so I’m just colouring in the beards here. Saves me a bit of money. Have a great break by the way!"
But Richard didn’t seem impressed and is convinced he’ll never get his job back.
He quipped: "There he is in my dressing room. Oh wow. Already settling himself in on my pleather with my fan art – the only piece of fan art I own. He’s ‘temporarily filling in’ – we know what that means in this business. That’s showbiz!"
Meanwhile, Richard isn’t the only showbiz reporter taking an extended break over the New Year as This Morning’s Rylan Clark-Neal has also decided to step away.
Speaking to Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield last week, he said: "I’ve not really said anything but after Christmas, next Friday, I’m going to be going away for a little bit. It’s definitely not goodbye but I’m going to be taking a little bit of a break new year. But I just want to say thank you because it’s been lovely and I will be back."
Richard Arnold to take break from Good Morning Britain
