This Morning Holly Willoughby Phillip Schofield return
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This Morning bosses ‘want to hire a black presenter’ admid the Black Lives Matter protests

This Morning boss Martin Frizell has apparently voiced the idea

Bosses at This Morning want to employ a black presenter to host the daytime show, according to reports.

Martin Frizell, editor of the ITV programme, apparently addressed the move during a video call.

It has come in the wake of the Black Live Matters protests that have taken place worldwide.

This Morning’s main hosts are Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby (Credit: ITV/ YouTube)

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A source told the Mail On Sunday that Martin told colleagues: “There is not a black presenter on any of the programmes today.

“We plan to change that, we [This Morning] are looking into it.”

White history

Currently, Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield host This Morning.

The show has not had a main black host in its 32-year history (Credit: SplashNews.com)

All previous main presenters of the daytime programme have also been white.

Regular on-screen black presenter is Alison Hammond is employed as a showbiz reporter.

Rochelle Humes also features regularly as a fashion expert. She has guest hosted with her husband Marvin before.

Alison Hammond is a showbiz reporter (Credit: ITV)

Dr Ranj Singh, the show’s resident doctor, has also guest hosted previously.

Kudos to Frizell for being the first ITV boss to pledge to make this happen

But the Friday presenters and Phil and Holly’s holiday cover are white couple, Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes.

A show insider also told the paper: “Kudos to Frizell for being the first ITV boss to pledge to make this happen.”

When contacted by Entertainment Daily, ITV declined to comment.

Little Britain
BBC iPlayer, Netflix and BritBox  have pulled Little Britain (Credit: BBC)

The Black Lives Matter movement was spurred into action following the death of George Floyd in the US.

Industry changes

In the UK, numerous protests have taken place.

The movement campaigns against violence and systematic racism towards black people.

Come Fly With Me
The BBC pulled Come Fly With Me (Credit: BBC)

Meanwhile, there have already been some changes within the telly industry.

The BBC, Netflix and BritBox all removed Little Britain and Come Fly With Me from streaming services.

Both shows, starring Matt Lucas and David Walliams, feature blackface characters.

The British comedians have now issued an apology for “playing characters of other races”.

Tweeting today (June 14), Matt said: “David and I have both spoken publicly in recent years of our regret that we played characters of other races.

“Once again we want to make it clear that it was wrong and we are very sorry.”

David shared the same statement, switching his name for Matt’s.

Ant and Dec have also apologised for using blackface disguises (Credit: Splashnews.com)

Ant and Dec apologise

Last week, Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly also apologised for using blackface disguises on Saturday Night Takeaway.

The Geordie duo said: “During past episodes of Saturday Night Takeaway we impersonated people of colour in the undercover segment of the show.

The stars used the characters on Saturday Night Takeaway (Credit: YouTube/ ITV)

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“We realise this was wrong and want to say that we sincerely sorry to everyone that was offended.

“We purposely stopped doing this several years ago and certainly would not make these sketches today.

“We had already taken steps to ensure footage was taken down and have again recently confirmed with ITV that these segments, and any other historical content, that could cause offence, does not appear on either the ITV Hub or the Saturday Night Takeaway YouTube channel.”

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Natasha Rigler
Freelance Writer

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