I'm A Celebrity's Josie Gibson on how she landed This Morning presenting role

22 November 2023 , 21:43

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Josie Gibson has reflected on her astonishing TV career (Image: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Josie Gibson has admitted she "thought they were joking" when she first got the call to front This Morning.

The 38-year-old is now a regular face as a main host on the ITV daytime show and has been tipped by many to help fill the void left by Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield. But just a couple of years ago she was struggling for TV work, despite winning Big Brother in 2010, and even when she started on This Morning it was brief appearances promoting their competitions. In camp Fred Sirieix asked Josie: “When you were on Big Brother, did you think it was going to lead to what you’re doing now?”

Josie replied: “Never in a million years, no. I wrote a bucket list when I was with my aunty and on that bucket list it said ‘be on tv’. I auditioned for Big Brother, ended up winning it. When I came out I tried and I tried and I tried and I tried for three years. I remember all the people I’d reached out to and it was like 72 people over three years.

"One day, This Morning gave me a job. They give me one day for a couple of minutes, then they give me another day for a couple more minutes, then they give me a day for a couple more minutes… and then they would give me more and more and more and challenge me and challenge me and challenge me and then one day I got the call, I was on my way to a competition in work and I got the call to host This Morning. Everybody was ill… I honestly thought they were joking.”

Josie was a Big Brother winner back in 2010 (Channel 4)

Of whether she was nervous on the big day, Josie added: “I didn’t really have time to be. I had 15 mins to get ready. I went straight in, had 15 mins in make-up and then straight to the studio floor. So I didn’t have time to be nervous.”

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Speaking in the Bush Telegraph Sam Thompson said he was inspired hearing Josie's story. He said: “Everyone’s got a story and it’s never as easy as it looks. Really awesome for someone like me to hear, if you believe you can do whatever you put your mind to. I really liked it.”

Josie is not the only former Big Brother star to feature on This Morning - as regular host Alison Hammond also started out her TV career on the hit reality show. She was a contestant back in 2002, featuring on the same season as winner Kate Lawler and the late Jade Goody.

Alison too started out on This Morning as a segment host, frequently featuring on competition reels and providing content from outside the studio. She was upgraded to a main host in 2021 after older hosts Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford were removed from the presenting line-up.

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