Vanessa Feltz, 63, sets record straight on ITV This Morning exit as she admits ‘I didn’t want to leave’
Vanessa Feltz has clarified that she “didn’t leave” This Morning as she prepares to launch her new Channel 5 talk show next week.
The 63-year-old broadcaster, who has been part of the ITV programme since 1992, insisted that she didn’t want to say goodbye to the show, even though she was launching her own programme on Channel 5.
“I love This Morning, I would never leave it, I couldn’t love it more,” Feltz told Metro ahead of her new show’s premiere on March 24.
She confirmed there was no behind-the-scenes drama involved with her exit.
“I would happily have stayed and gone on the back of a motorbike from the This Morning studio straight to Channel 5 and done both,” she revealed.
“I almost believed I’d be able to do that, but I think apparently, it’s not the way it’s done… but I’d have done it, and I think they would have been happy for me to do it too.”
Feltz added: “Yes I’m not doing it but I didn’t leave, I am just doing something else, that’s all.”
She also mentioned that she had heard “immediately” from Alison Hammond and Holly Willoughby following her departure.
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Feltz has promised a flexible format for her new Channel 5 programme, vowing to follow viewers’ wishes in changing topics.
“If you think we’re talking about the wrong thing and there’s something that you really think we should be talking about, just ring me, I’ll swerve it,” she said.
She explained that unlike her previous shows, she won’t be constrained by a rigid structure.
“I don’t have to stick to a script, I don’t want a script. This show is not about reading an autocue or reading what someone else has written for me to say.”
The new show will cover a range of topics from relationships and parenting to celebrity gossip and fashion.
Feltz has promised viewers that her programme will be “real, honest and unpredictable” when it launches on Monday.
“Television’s never been so real, honest, or unpredictable,” she stated in a previous announcement.
She hopes viewers will feel “they had that hour of the day to just chill and be entertained and to feel intrigued” without feeling “stressed or in any way entrenched in the news agenda.”
Feltz, who split from Ben Ofoedu in 2023 after a 16-year romance, has been open about her personal heartbreak, including during her stint on Celebs Go Dating.
The broadcaster has vowed to continue being honest with her audience.
“People have always shared so generously stories about their own lives with me, I feel like I must be equally honest with them,” she explained.
She added that this approach is essential because “you can’t really expect people to ring up and tell you their deepest thoughts and feelings if you keep yours very private.”
Throughout her career, Feltz has been a familiar face on British television, presenting shows including Vanessa from 1994 to 1998 and appearing on Celebrity Big Brother.
She has also maintained a successful radio career, including stints on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio London.