Vernon Kay ignited an outpouring of pleas from viewers for him to get more airtime as he hosted Loose Mem on Thursday, with the Loose Women taking a break to allow an all male panel to take over.
Not for the first time on the ITV lunchtime panel show, its regular stars were nowhere to be seen as a clutch of famous men took their seats at 12.30pm, with This Morning presenter Vernon joined by rugby star Mike Tindall, Strictly sensation Johannes Radebe and Capital Radio DJ Roman Kemp. The hour long special saw the guys talk about a range of different subjects from concerns around fertility to Johannes opening up on some of the awful comments he'd received on social media after being part of Strictly's first ever all male couple.
The chat about fertility saw Roman shared that, at the age of 29, he'd been for tests, to make sure he could have children while Vernon spoke candidly about his experiences of being a dad, saying he wanted to be a “hunter, gatherer."
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He told his Loose Men colleagues: “When Phoebe arrived on the scene, it wasn’t so much the biological clock, it was a switch in me that I became a hunter, gatherer - ‘Right, I’ve got to go out and graft. I’ve got to lay the foundations of this new family.’ That’s the thing I felt - it was really weird. I physically felt it and mentally felt it… to the point that, our first anniversary, I think I missed it because I was out interviewing Steps… I still hear about it to this day, many years later!”
Just as they have been in the past, people watching at home were a big fan of the Loose Men format, singling out Vernon for particular praise and calling on ITV producers to not only make Loose Men a more regular show, but give Vernon more big hosting opportunities. One tweeted: "Phenomenal show. Well done to Mike, jojo, Roman and Vernon. Fantastic show. Bring them all back for another one."
Equally impressed, another took to Twitter to post: "Loving @loosewomen today with the #LooseMen. We need more of @vernonkay on the tv.. take note @ITV," with a third writing: "Gotta say, @vernonkay
is really good as the anchor for #LooseMen. It takes skill to manage, link and engage a full, televised conversation. The man done well!."
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