Tom Swarbrick made his first turn in the presenting seat on Good Morning Britain on Monday, 25 May, co-hosting the programme with Ranvir Singh while regular presenters Susanna Reid and Ed Balls were off for the May half-term break. Swarbrick, who first appeared on the show in March when he reviewed the day’s headlines, told viewers it was “the first time sitting here so it’s an absolute thrill.”
Singh introduced him to the audience at the start of the programme, saying that while viewers may know him from ITV, they would have seen him on “a lot of This Morning.” Swarbrick has also been a regular contributor on This Morning and Lorraine, but Monday marked new territory for him as he stepped into the main hosting role for the first time.
Singh then set the tone for the morning with a joke that turned the weather into part of the welcome. “We normally like to give everyone a warm welcome. We’ve given you a record-breaking hot welcome today,” she said, a nod to the ongoing UK heatwave that had already pushed temperatures into uncomfortable territory for many viewers and presenters alike.
Swarbrick leaned into the moment, replying: “It’s been, you know, a sleepless, sweaty night but it’s a great thrill and privilege to be here so thank you very much for having me.” The line summed up both the novelty of the appearance and the conditions outside the studio, where the heat was impossible to ignore even in the early hours.
The change in the sofa pairing came as part of a temporary schedule shift during the school holiday period. Singh has been a familiar face on Good Morning Britain since 2014, and her experience helped anchor the handover as Swarbrick took on a role that viewers were not used to seeing him in. Good Morning Britain airs on weekdays at 6am on ITV and ITVX, and Monday’s broadcast showed how quickly the programme can adapt when the regular line-up is away.
For Swarbrick, the move from contributor to host appears to have landed well. Viewers posted praise for his first hosting outing on X, suggesting the debut did more than just fill a gap in the schedule. Singh also told viewers that she and Swarbrick would be back together for Tuesday’s show on 26 May, giving the morning a rare sense of continuity after a one-off switch that proved to be more than a novelty. The response indicates that Swarbrick’s shift from the sidelines to the main desk may not have felt routine, but it did feel like a natural fit.
