Good Morning Britain star Kate Garraway announced breaking news during Monday’s live show
Sara Baalla Screen Time TV Reporter
10:54, 09 Feb 2026
ITV Good Morning Britain star announces ‘serious’ breaking news(Image: ITV)
Good Morning Britain star Kate Garraway announced some “serious” breaking news on today’s show.
Monday’s (February 9) instalment of the popular ITV show was fronted by Susanna Reid and Ed Balls, who brought viewers up to speed on the latest developments from throughout the UK and beyond.
They were accompanied in the studio by Laura Tobin, who provided regular weather updates, whilst Kate managed the remainder of the day’s headlines.
Later during the programme, Kate announced breaking news after pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai was handed a 20-year prison term in Hong Kong.
“The 78-year-old British citizen was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of publishing seditious materials. He has always denied the charges, saying he is a political prisoner facing persecution from Beijing,” Kate outlined, as a breaking news banner flashed up on screen, reports the Mirror.
Kate Garraway announced breaking news on Monday(Image: ITV)
In a pre-recorded piece, ITV’s Asia correspondent Debi Edward said: “Jimmy Lai has been given the longest sentence handed down so far under Hong Kong’s national security law. The former media boss and British citizen was sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to serve 18 of those years consecutively, following his current fraud sentence.
“Human rights groups have described it as a death sentence for the 78-year-old, whose health is deteriorating. He has already spent five years in jail, much of that in solitary confinement.”
Debi continued: “In court today, he did appear thinner but in good spirits as he gestured his thanks towards the public gallery. But when he was led away to start that sentence, his wife and those around her appeared to be in tears.”
She added: “It was just two weeks ago that the British Prime Minister appealed directly to President Xi Jinping during their meeting in Beijing to consider Jimmy Lai’s age and raise concerns that the British government had about his case.”
The journalist disclosed that the appeal and previous attempts seemed to have made “no difference”.
A pro-democracy campaigner has been sentenced to 20 years in prison(Image: ITV)
Debi finished by saying: “The Chinese government has made sure that the man they describe as a traitor and the mastermind behind anti-China forces will likely die in jail.”
GMB audiences took to X (formerly Twitter) to express their reactions to the development, with one viewer posting: “Oh boy! That sounds super serious.”
Elsewhere on today’s GMB, presenter Susanna shared the sad news of D-Day veteran Stan Ford’s passing at the age of 100.
The host explained: “Stan Ford was on HMS Fratton, an escort ship, on the day of the D-Day landings, and the gun tower exploded – he almost drowned. He’s an absolutely remarkable individual.”
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV1 and ITVX at 6am