Richard Madeley is among the frontrunners to replace Piers Morgan on 'Good Morning Britain'.
Richard Madeley
The former 'This Morning' presenter is expected to co-host the breakfast show in June and 'GMB' bosses may extend the deal further if he impresses.
An ITV insider told The Sun newspaper: "Piers is nigh-on impossible to replace and 'GMB' execs accept this, but Richard has his own inimitable style.
"Like Piers, he’s a trained journalist who knows how to press guests and get a decent ‘line’ from interviewees.
"He shoots from the hip, says what he thinks, and is a genuinely brilliant, likeable chap off air - so it’s very much a 'watch this space'."
Richard recently admitted he would be "bonkers not to" talk to 'GMB' bosses if he was offered the chance to replace Piers - who quit the show last month after he refused to apologise for controversial comments about the Duchess of Sussex - but he enjoys being a guest host on the programme.
The 64-year-old TV presenter - who is married to his former 'This Morning' co-host Judy Finnigan - told Metro newspaper: "If the phone went and they said, ‘Would you come in and talk?’ of course I would talk to them.
"It would be bonkers not to. But I very much like sitting in for people.
"I have all the fun and very little of the responsibility or flak."
'GMB' presenter Susanna Reid's pal, TV presenter Robert Rinder, has also been rumoured as a potential replacement for Piers, and he recently admitted the prospect of taking on the role is "very interesting", but he isn't sure he could "endure the wave of Twitter hate" he might receive.
He said: "The difficulty is ... first of all, I don't know how you do it?
"You've managed to do it over the years and you're not even in sympathetic lighting and you've managed to stay line-less.
"Of course, you get up at six o'clock in the morning. If I got up at three o'clock in the morning and had to cross examine some lying, idiot politician who is trying to tell me porkies I think there might be a nuclear-powered reaction.
"As you know, I don't do nonsense of any sort.
"But I think it would be a very interesting thing indeed.
"I'm not sure I could endure the wave of Twitter hate."
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