IN A shock move, one of the main stars of This Morning has quit social media for the time being.
Martin Lewis, is known as the resident money-saving expert of the show and is a mainstay face of the wider ITV channel.
However, in the week leading up to Christmas, Martin, 51, has decided to take a break from online platforms to focus on other areas in his life.
The TV personality – who also hosts his own eponymous money show – announced the news in a surprise post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In a lengthy essay he wrote: “I’m signing off social media now and going to spend the next couple of weeks chilling, and focusing on family.
“So this is, hopefully, my last post of 2023.
“I’d like to wish all who celebrate a joyous, peaceful, & warm-hearted Christmas and happy New Year.”
He added: “For those who find this time of year grief-filled, lonely or a struggle may your passage through it, be easy, with more smiles than you expect.”
The stand-in Good Morning Britain anchor also posted an accompanying graphic to emphasise the message as he signed off from the platform.
It has been a chaotic year for the long-running ITV daytime magazine show.
Phillip Schofield quit the channel after he admitted he lied about an a consensual affair with a younger male colleague.
Holly Willoughby also left the daytime show a few months later after taking an extended summer break.
The Sun later revealed that Ben Shephard, 49, and Cat Deeley, 47, could be set to replace the pairing and take the reigns in new big money deals.
This was after the findings of the external investigation into the alleged events on the show were revealed.
In the report by Jane Mulcahy KC, no evidence of a toxic culture was found as bosses made “considerable effort” to uncover the relationship.
However, a former staffer blasted the probe as they said it was “absurd” that only 48 people were interviewed.
They told The Sun: “This ITV probe has been a complete whitewash. It’s disgusting.
“The fact that only 48 people were interviewed is a joke. When factoring in that some of them were presenters, agents, management – not many of the production team were spoken to.”
The insider explained that at least 70 people working on the programme at any time – let alone “hundreds of people left the show to go to new jobs”.
They added: “I feel it has not been thorough at all.”
“The fact that only one person knew out of all of those people is frankly absurd.
“I was not contacted to speak and if asked, I would have spoken and told what I know.”
