ITV has confirmed that Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley are leaving breakfast time show Daybreak to “focus on their peak-time commitments” for the broadcaster.

According to ITV, Chiles will “prioritise his role as the anchor of ITV”s live football coverage” while Bleakley “will focus on a range of shows for ITV1, including a new role as the co-presenter of Dancing on Ice alongside Phillip Schofield” Bleakley will “also host Westlife: For The Last Time and co-present ITV”s major new charity and entertainment initiative for Christmas, Text Santa.  ITV1 is also developing a peak time factual entertainment challenge show with Christine as well as a new peak time home renovation programme”.

Lacklustre ratings

The news comes following months of lacklustre ratings for Daybreak, which currently has an average audience of 800,000. However Peter Fincham, ITV Director of Television, delivered an upbeat assessment of the shift: “Adrian and Christine are superb presenters.  They have worked tirelessly to help establish Daybreak on ITV1 and they leave the show at a point when ratings have recently seen their biggest year on year increase”.

Inevitably, there is now speculation over who will be called in to revive the flagging formula. Sky News breakfast presenter Eamonn Holmes has recently been ruled out as a replacement for Chiles but one possibility is ITV News presenter Keir Simmons. As for Bleakley’;s role, one possible is Sian Williams, the BBC breakfast presenter who decided not to move up to Salford.