It’s the end of an era today, as Good Morning Britain presenter and journalist Richard Gaisford’s time on the show (in its various incarnations) has come to an end after a whopping 26 years.
Having announced his departure in October, Gaisford appeared on-screen on last time this Christmas Eve, with hosts Charlotte Hawkins and Ed Balls thanking him for all his hard work and wishing him all the best in the future.
“I want to take this moment to say goodbye and thank you to Richard G, who has been with us here on ITV Breakfast for 26 years now,” Hawkins said, calling him “a much-loved member of our team”.
“He has travelled right around the world for Good Morning Britain,” she continued. “He’s been in warzones, he’s covered all sorts of different stories for us over the years. He is an exceptional journalist, he is the best, and we wish him all the best. Richard, thank you so much. You will be very much missed.”
Balls added that he always gave an “extra special bit of analysis”, adding: “As a newbie on the block here, I have learned a lot for you over the last few years. Thank you very, very much.”
ITV
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Gaisford told his co-hosts: “I will miss all of you immensely and wish you the best of luck with what happens next year. I’m out there looking for some new adventures.”
Following his last broadcast, the journalist uploaded an Instagram video of himself speaking to the phone camera immediately after the GMB camera stopped rolling.
“Well, that is it, my last ever Good Morning Britain broadcast after 26 years,” he said, before addressing his career and the show’s upcoming move to a new studio location.
“It has been the best job in TV news and it’s been an immense privilege to be doing it, and I’m gonna miss it incredibly, as I will the people that I’ve been working with, these incredible teams behind the scenes at Good Morning Britain, that I’ve travelled the world with, have been speaking to from all over the planet, many of them are going over to ITN where the programme is heading in the New Year.
“They will have some challenges, new studio, new newsroom, new budget, lots for them to be thinking about and I will be thinking of them. Big changes for me too, as I look for some new adventures in the coming year.
ITV
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“Definitely, definitely this is a time to say thank you to my wife who has just been amazing and an incredible support throughout this whole period. Really couldn’t have done this job [and had] an amazing family life and followed this career without her support.
“And also the support of people who’ve been watching. Thank you so much. For more than a quarter of a century. Listening to me in the morning. Watching and giving me some really thoughtful and constructive and kind feedback often. I will miss speaking with you in the morning, and hope to see you on the television sometime soon.”
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
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Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he’s covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I’m a Fish.