She debuted her new strawberry-blonde locks on her return to This Morning last week – just days after furiously posting about “drama” and “disrespect” after being snubbed for Cat Deeley as Holly Willoughby’s permanent replacement. And insiders say Josie Gibson, 39, has been left feeling blindsided and hurt by the shock decision.
A source says, “Josie’s in shock and while she’s still guest presenting due to her current contract, it’s very much through gritted teeth. She can’t help feeling a bit betrayed by ITV and all the producers and execs – not only for being sidelined, but for being sidelined by Cat, who’s never had any connection with the show.
“Josie’s worked so hard to get to where she is and has shown immense loyalty to This Morning – remaining a constant throughout all the scandal and drama over the last year. She feels like it’s a smack in the face and has joked that it’s like being strung along by a boyfriend who promises the world, only to run off with another woman.
“To make matters worse, she has struggled with the fact that Cat’s been hired not only over her but over any of her co-stars and pals such as Alison Hammond and Rochelle Humes. She said she doesn’t hold it against her of course, but she just feels gutted about the whole thing.”
Following Josie’s hugely successful stint in the jungle, the I’m A Celeb! star became the frontrunner for the highly-coveted gig as her popularity soared. After taking a week off last month, the former Big Brothe_r_ star took to Instagram to confirm she hadn’t left the show, after fans questioned her whereabouts.
During her time away from the show, she shared a number of cryptic posts with her 729k followers, including one about “taking space away from drama” and choosing “distance over disrespect”. One – which she deleted shortly after posting – read, “Drama becomes intolerant to you and your peace becomes your ultimate priority. You start surrounding yourself with people who are good for your mental health, heart and soul.”
And following the announcement that Cat and Ben Shepherd would become Holly and Phillip Schofield’s permanent replacements following 16 months of scandal and shock exits, pals say the mum-of-one is gearing up to make a clean break.
The source says, “Josie’s sick and tired of being a ‘stand in’ and has been left feeling like she’s been used and tossed aside, which she isn’t prepared to endure any more. She’s even considering quitting the show for good and drawing a line under This Morning – bagging her own show and being the ‘starring role’ instead of the back up.
“She’s in talks about doing her own talk show, which would be her ultimate dream, and is busy setting up meetings about various other gigs in production which she’d like to front. She and Alison would love to co-host something together so that’s also a possibility, but with Alison’s schedule so hectic right now, it’s not something that’s going to happen in the immediate future.
“For now, Josie is focusing on remaining as professional as possible and putting her feelings aside to ensure she fulfills the rest of her contract. She refuses to act like the woman scorned and is now determined to focus on her future and holding onto the faith that this all happened for a reason and that better things are to come for her.”