Lorraine was brought to a halt on ITV today as host Christine Lampard cut back to Good Morning Britain, where hosts Ranvir Singh and Richard Madeley announced Pope Francis’ death

ITV chatshow Lorraine was dramatically cut short today by Christine Lampard as the presenter announced the death of Pope Francis. The Catholic figure died aged 88 today, with Cardinal Kevin Ferrell announcing the sad news at 7:30am.

Christine was midway through an interview with Pilgrimage star Harry Clark when she was forced to interrupt him. Lorraine was then taken off air, with Good Morning Britain’s Ranvir Singh and Richard Madeley taking over to deliver the breaking news.

While Harry was speaking about filming the BBC Two show, Christine halted him to say: “Harry, I’m sorry, we’re just going to interrupt you just for a moment. Interestingly, we’re talking about Pilgrimage as well as faith and belief.

“We’ve just been told there is breaking news in the last few minutes from the Vatican. We’re going to head back to Richard and Ranvir at Good Morning Britain.”

Richard and Ranvir then took over, telling viewers: “Christine, thank you so much. as you say, we do have some breaking news from Rome. The Vatican has just announced the death of Pope Francis.”

Richard then read out the statement from Cardinal Kevin Ferrell, which read: “Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. At 7.35am, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father.

“His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of His Church. He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage, and universal love, especially in favour of the poorest and most marginalized. With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the One and Triune God.”

ITV cut back to Lorraine after 15 minutes of GMB’s coverage, with Lorraine resuming her chat with Harry Clarke.