'All the big names are staying while the little people get the boot': Insiders tell KATIE HIND what 'furious' ITV production staff REALLY think of the 'rubbish' household names who are escaping jobs bloodbath - suong

This time of year is usually an upbeat one at ITV's HQ. Staff normally prepare for the 'new term', and the return of big-name hosts following their summer holidays, with considerable excitement.

Flagship shows like This Morning and Good Morning begin considering how to implement their traditional September relaunches – the 'freshening up' of sets, features and overall themes.

And, historically, bosses and viewers look forward to Lorraine Kelly reclaiming her hosting duties, as well as the first-choice Loose Women panels being back onscreen, tanned, relaxed and full of their usual cheeky vim.

Only this year, ITV's White City studios aren't fizzing with their usual positive energy.

Rather, there's sadness, anger and fear because more than half of the 440 staff who work behind camera are set to lose their jobs in the broadcaster's biggest ever bloodbath.

The consultation period which will determine who will be the victims of these brutal financial cuts has been underway for some months and there are already clear indications of who's going and who's staying.

I'm told the competition for jobs and the fallout over who is 'safe' and who isn't is now 'beyond vicious'.

So instead of spending the summer weeks planning exciting scoops and arranging promotional work, staff have been occupied in redundancy meetings – not to mention considerable backbiting about who will keep their job.

The announcement of the redundancies this May devastated hard-working production employees. Adding salt to the wound, ITV have confirmed to me that, despite needing to slash costs, they are keeping virtually all of their big-name presenters – many of whom are on six figure salaries.

And while Good Morning Britain is merging with ITV News, all of their top presenters – who include Susanna Reid, Richard Madeley, Julie Etchingham and Tom Bradby – will remain in post for now at least.

But even they can't relax: it's emerged that Madeley, 69, is among several to agree to short-term deals, and his six-month contract will start in September.

GMB's Kate Garraway is safe – as, surprisingly, is presenter Adil Ray, who looked set to be axed. Instead, insiders say his shifts will be cut.

Initially there was rampant speculation that Ed Balls would be shown the door, as many took the view that his wife Yvette Cooper's role as Home Secretary meant he couldn't provide impartial news coverage. This looks not to have come to pass – nor has the idea that ITV News anchors would be given try-outs presenting GMB alongside Susanna Reid.

For now, at least, everyone on GMB and ITV News will continue their separate shows. This Morning's presenters will also stay in situ.

All this has left backroom staff 'furious'. One told me: 'All the big names are staying while the little people get the boot. It is horrendous.

'You'd think if you wanted to save a big lump of cash you could get rid of some of the presenters. There are loads of them!

'But no, instead they've all been told they are safe.

'The cuts will fall to those who earn pennies in comparison. When this was all announced, we thought some of the stars would go – and rightfully so. Some of them are rubbish.

'Instead we've all been told there will be a bit of moving people around and that most savings will be made by not doubling up on coverage.

'For example, rather than there being three or four backstage workers doing a certain job, there will be one – but there will still be loads of presenters.'

So extreme have been the cuts that even the presenters who remain in their jobs have been left feeling guilty at their good fortune in keeping their considerable pay packets, while the staff around them, who earn a good deal less, have been hung out to dry.

One told me: 'It's awful to see, awful. These people work so hard and they've still lost their jobs. And where are they going to go?

'The industry is getting smaller and smaller for production staff. For people like Susanna and Kate, it has been devastating to watch their staff treated like this.

'Some of the stars wish they could do something to change it. Others, though, are just smug at the fact they are staying.'

I'm told that some onscreen journalists are also facing the axe, but no household names are under threat.

A certain amount of streamlining is taking place: for example, any royal coverage for Good Morning Britain will be anchored by ITV News royal editor Chris Ship, rather than their own team. The US bureau for GMB will also be axed, with well-regarded presenter Noel Phillips' job on the redundancy list, though he may still be found another job within the organisation.

GMB's political editor Louisa James could also find herself up against ITV's stable of political journalists who are headed by Robert Peston. He, unsurprisingly, is safe from the axe.

Loose Women and Lorraine have also been decimated by the cuts, with presenters on the former facing the prospect of only being aired for 30 weeks a year. Lorraine, too, is going from 52 weeks a year to 30, as well as being cut back from an hour to just half an hour in transmission time.

This latter change takes place in January 2026, when GMB will be extended by 30 minutes to fill the gap, running from 06:00 to 09.30 daily.

News of the biggest cuts in ITV's history came just as This Morning had finally calmed its waters following the Phillip Schofield controversy, when the presenter was exposed for having an affair with a much younger male colleague.

In a statement to me in May 2023, he confessed all, profusely apologising for his duplicity, and left the show with immediate effect. Just five months later Holly Willoughby also quit the show, following a truly disturbing plot to kidnap and murder her. For a time, it looked like This Morning's days were numbered.

All this understandably took its toll on the programme's staff, many of whom were in tears on a daily basis.

One employee tells me: 'Those few months were particularly hard for everyone on the show. It's all anyone was taking about.

'The show was in the news every single day, even after Phil left. There were so many questions about who knew what, and speculation that the show wasn't as cosy as it appeared to be.

'But still, the dedicated production staff showed up every single day and did everything they could to ride out the storm.

'And it's the same people who were holding the show together who are now at risk of losing their job. It feels like a punishment. It's deeply sad.'

Little wonder, then, that I'm told the atmosphere on all four shows – This Morning, GMB, Lorraine and Loose Women – this summer has been 'dire'.

Guests are arriving to find staff looking exhausted and stressed. The previously buoyant culture – particularly on This Morning, which had found its groove again when new hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard arrived in March last year – is now more melancholy.

The source added: 'There were months of different partnerships taking to the sofa, but the people behind the scenes stayed the same. And when Ben and Cat came along they had no trouble fitting in because life on set was a very happy place. But then came these brutal cuts.

'You walk into ITV now and it's a pretty miserable place.'

Meanwhile, it's an open secret that Lorraine may leave her eponymous show when her current contract expires in a year.

Sources have previously told me that the 65-year-old was enraged at the cuts – especially as she was once so powerful at ITV and celebrated her 40th year in television last year with a special episode of her show, which she has presented since 2010.

She's by no means the only victim: the cuts mean her current popular stand-ins Christine Lampard and Ranvir Singh may see their appearances fronting the show slashed.

Tears for Lorraine are few and far between. While many staff on her show will have no job to go to, the canny Scot is financially secure with an estimated £8 million fortune which was further feathered when she recently won her appeal against HMRC over a £1.2 million tax and National Insurance bill.

A source said: 'Lorraine sees it as the end. She's got a year left on her contract which she will honour, but beyond that there are no plans for her to stay. She will be leaving.

'Of course, she will be fine, she has loads of money. But some of the people who work for her have done so for many years and have put up with her demands for a long, long time. Yet they will struggle to ever get another job in the television industry.'