ITV in ‘panic’ as This Morning faces week-long blackout with bosses scrambling to save daytime shows
A major power failure at the broadcaster’s Covent Garden studios has disrupted three popular daytime programmes, forcing last-minute schedule changes and raising concerns about when live broadcasts can resume.
This Morning could remain off air for the rest of the week after a power cut forced ITV to cancel three of its biggest daytime programmes, leaving bosses working on contingency plans to keep its schedule running.
The broadcaster was forced on Wednesday (04.11.26) to abandon live editions of This Morning, Lorraine and Loose Women after an overnight power outage affected its studios in Covent Garden, central London.
Good Morning Britain, which broadcasts from ITN's studios in Holborn, was extended until 10am to fill part of the gap, before ITV aired a repeat of This Morning in place of the usual live programme.
A source has now said the disruption could continue beyond the initial cancellations, with concerns that the fault would not be resolved in time for the following day's broadcasts.
The insider told The Sun: “There’s panic it won’t be resolved in time for tomorrow. It appears to be a wider area outage rather than just the studio, and it’s not an easy fix.
“Daytime is worried about plans going south for the rest of the week. Lots of work and planning could go to waste.”
ITV has acknowledged the technical difficulties affecting its daytime schedule but has not confirmed when all three programmes will resume live broadcasts.
In a statement issued after the disruption, the broadcaster said: “Following a power cut overnight in the wider area where our Covent Garden studio is based, we are unable to broadcast Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women live today.
“We will return to our normal schedule as soon as possible.”
The cancellations also affected Lorraine Kelly, 66, who was travelling to work when she learned that her morning programme would not be going ahead.
The Scottish presenter, who has fronted her long-running ITV breakfast show for years and is a familiar face from GMTV and Good Morning Britain, addressed the situation in a video posted to Instagram.
Speaking from inside a car, Lorraine said: “Hello there, I’m on my way to work but there’s been a little bit of a hoo-ha, there’s a power outage at the studio, so my show won’t be on today.
“But you can still watch GMB and they’re going to fix it round about 11 o’clock-ish so This Morning will still be on as well, but just maybe a little bit later.”
Despite Lorraine's initial suggestion This Morning might return later in the day, ITV subsequently confirmed that it would be unable to broadcast a live edition of the programme.
The disruption has affected a substantial part of ITV's weekday daytime output, with Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women normally broadcast consecutively through the morning and early afternoon.
This Morning, which has been a fixture of ITV's daytime schedule since 1988, is currently associated with presenters Ben Shephard, 51, and Cat Deeley, 50, who became its principal hosts in 2024.
Ben previously spent years presenting Good Morning Britain and has also hosted the game show Tipping Point, while Cat is known for presenting SMTV Live and the American talent competition So You Think You Can Dance.
The programme underwent a major presenting shake-up following the departure of Phillip Schofield in 2023 and Holly Willoughby later that year.
Loose Women, meanwhile, is known for its rotating panel of presenters discussing current affairs, relationships and entertainment, while Lorraine remains one of ITV's established morning interview and lifestyle programmes.
The outage comes after ITV made significant changes to its daytime operations, including moving This Morning, Lorraine and Loose Women to the H Club Studio in Covent Garden in January 2026. Good Morning Britain is produced separately at ITN.
