What happened to This Morning today as ITV pull all live TV off air – including Loose Women – due to security incident. Nearby Wood Lane and White City tube stations have been closed as police deal with the bomb threat
ITV has pulled its live shows – This Morning and Loose Women – off air today, with emergency footage aired instead.
Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby had been presenting This Morning live, but after they returned from the break, the pair appeared in a pre-recorded segment to say they couldn’t be with viewers live today.
It was a bomb threat that took the show off air – but the Metropolitan Police have since confirmed that the security incident, which was reported nearby to the studios, has been diffused.
Earlier in the programme, they had aired an interview with Rebel Wilson, whilst Brenda Blethyn appeared on the show to talk about the new series of Kate and Koji.
A message saying it was a pre-recorded segment aired on screen (
Image:
ITV)
Instead of their planned Guess the Gadget segment, back up footage of Phil and Holly trying some tree-hugging was aired rather than the live show. As part of the emergency footage, they also aired a segment with Britain’s dullest men.
A statement from the Metropolitan Police reads: “At 11:14hrs on Thursday, 10 March, police were called to reports of a security alert at Wood Lane, White City. It was reported a suspicious item had been discovered.
“The area was evacuated as a precaution and White City and Wood Lane tube stations were temporarily closed. The incident was stood down shortly before 12:49hrs. An investigation is ongoing.”
Loose Women was also taken off air and a pre-recorded show aired instead (
Image:
ITV)
Fans of the ITV show were puzzled by the change, and took to Twitter wondering what happened.
“What happened to #ThisMorning,” one confused fan wrote online, as another added: “Wait what’s happened? #ThisMorning.”‘
This Morning addressed the show being off air in a tweet posted at 12.50pm.
“We apologise for the break in live programming today. We are currently running pre-recorded content and hope to be back with you soon,” they said in a post online, whilst Loose Women posted the same message on their social media channels.
It’s reported that Lorraine Kelly was unwittingly the alleged target of the ‘bomb package’.
A source close to the daytime telly star say she was the intended recipient of a box which was picked up by the network’s security staff before it could reach her – sparking a evacuation from the ITV building and closure of nearby Tube stations.
Lorraine KellyIt’s said the 62-year-old Scottish host was “very concerned” at the prospect of being a potential target – but details are yet to emerge surrounding the nature of the package which has since been removed by experts.
A source told The Sun: “Word quickly got around that whatever the box contained, it was addressed to Lorraine.
“Everyone at ITV loves her – so people were upset and very concerned over the whole incident. Fortunately everyone is safe, but it shakes everyone up.”
It is not yet known what the security incident is but two stations near the studios, Wood Lane and White City, have been closed.
“White City and Wood Lane stations closed: While the police respond to a security alert outside the station,” the tweet from Transport for London reads.
Pictures from the studio show the crew standing outside due to the nearby security incident, with photos from the scene showing a big group of people outside the Television Centre building.
Fans of the two ITV shows were left puzzled when the show went off air with no explanation.
” @thismorning Erm… what happened? Was watching and looking forward to the gadget game and the show suddenly switched to a prerecorded set. Not even a comment in the ad break to explain,” one wrote.
A second added: “@itvstudios please can you tell me what is going on, why are you showing pre recorded Loose Women and what happened to the end of This Morning.”
The Mirror have contacted both the Metropolitan Police and ITV for further information.
