Depending on which reports you read, Penny Smith has either been axed or decided to leave GMTV after 17 years on the show. Some are saying that this move came after a fair amount of speculation as advertising revenues for the show had fallen through the floor and viewers were jumping ship to rival BBC Breakfast.

Smith said in a statement: ‘It’s an ideal time for me to say goodbye to early mornings. Now that the format has changed I have taken the plunge and am moving on.’

Apparently, our Penny will be moving to Radio 2 to present a Radio 2 series on poetry.

Co-host John Stapleton will now take on a ‘special correspondent’ role in an effort to give the show a more serious image as people at the show have been concerned that GMTV is too lightweight. Well. It is.

A former GMTV executive said: ‘It seems that they have forgotten they are a news programme.”

As for Stapleton, he’s quite pleased by it all. He said: “I’m going back to doing what I love best – covering major national and international news stories, and, after 12 years of getting up at 3.45am, I’m looking forward to having at least a few lie-ins a week, when I’m not on duty.”