'We've created an environment where we don't need screens'

Presenter Ben Shephard on banning phones at home, his full-on fitness goals, and nail-biting new show The Summit

- LAUREN MORRIS

Since turning 50 at the end of 2024, Ben Shephard has been at the top of his game. From hosting primetime ITV shows such as This Morning and new series The Summit, to hopes of tackling his first Ironman triathlon, the now 51-year-old is showing no signs of slowing down.

However, these awe-inspiring feats don't seem to impress his wife Annie. “I’m going to do a marathon this year for the first time in six years, and if I do it, that might mean I could finally complete an Ironman which has been a dream for a long time,” he grins.

“Annie thinks I’m an idiot. She thinks I should probably take more time off and enjoy some downtime. Her concern would be physically, is my body up to it? Not mentally or whether I’m fit enough, but whether my back can cope or my knees can cope. That's the sort of thing I’m taking a bit more seriously now.”

Ben lives in south west London with interior designer Annie, who he married back in 2004 and with whom he has sons Sam, 20, and 18-year-old Jack. Despite settling in sleepy Richmond, Ben admits that he finds it impossible to sit still.

“I’m very, very bad at doing nothing. I need to be busy,” he says. “ADHD plays a heavy hand in our family so I’m often out, running around and doing things.”

Luckily for him, he’s out the door fairly early most days to host This Morning with Cat Deeley. Last year, ITV Daytime was hit by cutbacks and schedule changes, and the team had to move from their west London studio to a more central location. But Ben says his colleagues have been “absolutely incredible” amid the drama.

“Having got to White City in 2018, it was a real wrench physically because we all knew it inside out,” he says.

“That was a big change for everybody but it’s the next part of the adventure. Cat and I cannot speak highly enough of how hard everybody has worked to get the new studio into a position where Lorraine [Kelly]’s show, our show and