For 20 years, Kate Garraway has been used to getting up at the crack of dawn to host breakfast telly – but for the first time ever, she has missed a show after sleeping through her alarm.
The presenter was due to return to Good Morning Britain on Thursday, fresh from her stint on I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!.
However, she ended up missing her comeback after failing to wake up in time for the ITV breakfast show’s 6am start, forcing Ranvir Singh to co-host alongside Ben Shephard at the last minute.
Kate told her Instagram followers she hoped she would not get “fired” for the “disaster”.
She wrote: “Overslept on my first morning back at work on Good Morning Britain.
“Fell asleep last night fully made-up with clothes on and contacts in – didn’t set alarm.”
Posting a selfie with make-up from the previous night still on, she added: “Woke up looking like this!!!??!!!.”
Kate then had to call in to GMB for a live link-up with Ranvir and Ben, explaining she had fallen asleep with one of her children, who was off school and unwell.
“I’ve still got my shoes on! I fell asleep and the next thing I know it was 20 minutes ago,” she said.
She quipped the mistake could be “karma” following a conversation she had in the jungle with fellow breakfast presenters Adele Roberts and Roman Kemp.
“I was so smug and said I’d never overslept and missed a show because I get up so early that even if I’ve overslept it’s still only 3.15.”
Ben joked: “You’ve had one sniff of primetime and this is what happens.”
Kate later had to tell husband Derek Draper she was live on air after he walked out of their bedroom – although not on camera – naked.
Ranvir, who is GMB’s political editor, told viewers she had received a text message at 3.26am from the show’s editor.
“I got a text message this morning, just shortly after my alarm went off because I’m usually outside in the dark and the rain…
“‘Hi love,’ this is from our lovely editor, ‘We’ve got a problem – we can’t raise Kate Garraway. If need be, could you step in to do the show with Ben. We’ll keep you posted.’”
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV.
