You can now visit the TV studios where This Morning, Good Morning Britain, Loose Women and Lorraine are filmed.
The ITV Daytime Studio Tour is a newly-launched experience, taking you into the very rooms where the shows are filmed, when the cameras have stopped rolling and the hosts and audiences have gone home.
ITV's daytime shows recently made the permanent move from their previous home on South Bank, to the former BBC studios at Television Centre in White City.
The content of the tour varies from day to day, depending what's going on in the studios, and which areas are available for visitors. Our tour started in the Good Morning Britain studio, made famous for Piers Morgan's forthright opinions and Susannah Reid's endless patience. While the famous desk itself is strictly out of bounds (it cost thousands of pounds to make, we're told), there is a chance to have a go at presenting the weather.
Loose Women and Lorraine share a studio — smaller in real life than it appears on TV — with a whole team required to change the set over between live broadcasts. The tour continues with a visit to the production corridor of Good Morning Britain, including a peek inside the green room, guest dressing rooms (very plush) and the production wardrobe (MANY sequins).
Finally, the studio doors are opened, and tour participants stroll inside to the theme tune played over speakers — quite the entrance. There's a chance to look around the studio, including the sofa where Phil and Holly sit every weekday, and the kitchen where Gino D'Acampo regularly cooks up a storm. Oh, and see if you can spot that NTA statue on set.
We haven't given away too much here as we don't want to ruin the surprise — and each tour varies anyway — but it's a joy to see the TV legacy continuing at Television Centre, albeit flying under a different flag.
ITV Daytime Studios Tours take place on selected dates. At the moment, preview tickets are available, costing £22 adult/£16 concession. After this, full price tickets cost £27.50 adult/£21 concession. Advance booking required.
