Craig Doyle says This Morning presenting stint is a ‘complete roller coaster’

Craig Doyle has said presenting This Morning is a “complete roller coaster”, after stepping in to host a number of the show’s summer slots.

The 51-year-old Irish television and radio presenter has recently been presenting This Morning while the show’s usual hosts, Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, are on their summer break.

Speaking about the experience on the ITV daytime show, he told the PA news agency: “It’s ever changing, isn’t it?

“You bounce around subject matter, emotional levels, from joy to sadness to fun to serious.

“There’s no show like it.

“It’s a complete roller coaster of a thing.”

Doyle had his first taste of presenting This Morning earlier this year, alongside one of show’s regular faces Alison Hammond.

He revealed that Hammond had been “very generous” while the pair worked together and helped Doyle get to grips with hosting the programme.

He said: “It was really good, I really liked her, it felt very natural to me, great positive energy from her.

“She just rolls with it all.

“I didn’t really know what I was doing and she was very generous I thought, which is kind of really important.

“When you’re co-presenting you need someone who is going to be generous with you, particularly when you don’t know what you’re doing!

“I had never done the show before and I was very nervous for the first one so she kind of held my hand and I enjoyed her company very much.”

After going in to presenting This Morning for a second time Dublin native Doyle told PA: “I’m more aware of it, of the quirks of it.

“But it’s hard to prepare for because you just don’t know what’s coming your way.

“So maybe not to over prepare is what I’ve learnt from it, just keep my ears open and listen to all the people we speak to because it’s either an expert talking about something or it’s a viewer talking about something that has affected their lives, that they’re an expert in.

“So I think using your ears is probably a very important part of presenting the show.”

He added: “I enjoy the viewers calling in because you really don’t know what’s coming.

“They’re not worried about TV careers so there’s a lack of awareness which is quite nice, an honesty to them.

“Some of them are just funny, some of them say things you shouldn’t say on TV and it’s really funny and it’s great because it’s so natural… I think probably, the core, the tentpole of this show, just from watching it over the years, is probably the relationship with the viewers, it’s the keystone.”

Doyle, who is presenting alongside Rochelle Humes, Mollie King and Josie Gibson, also revealed he believes the mix of presenters on the show is crucial to its success.

“I think that sofa has to be very relatable to people at home,” he said.

“And that’s why you need a mix of people on it.

“And that’s why we have loads of experts as well.

“I don’t know if you watch Modern Family, in our house it’s one of the favourite shows.

“We all relate to characters within the show, don’t we?

“And I think there needs to be an element of that with This Morning.

“So maybe you need a kind of geeky guy like me, and then a cool, worldly aware person like Alison.

“I think that balance is important.

“Something for everyone and all that.”

Watch Craig Doyle on This Morning, weekdays on ITV from 10am.