Ranvir Singh spoke candidly in a new interview where she admitted leaving her “secure” job at the BBC and moving to rival channel ITV after being headhunted for a national gig.
The Good Morning Britain presenter, 45, was left devastated after she found out she had been axed from the programme.
Speaking to Jennie Becker on the Sliding Doors podcast, Ranvir opened up about her longstanding career and the difficult moments she has faced over the years.
She said: “I had a very secure job with BBC job with a pension and everything. I got headhunted to go to ITV. So I give up this whole secure life at the BBC and my friends and my life in Manchester to move to London, essentially, for a contract.
“It was a two-year contract. But I always remember being in the newsroom at the BBC and looking up at the little television and thinking, ‘I want to know what it’s like to be there [on a national].”
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At the time, Ranvir was working at a regional newsroom for the BBC but was eager to get on screen for a national role.
“I’m there [at Daybreak] 15 months into the job,” she explained. “The programme gets a whole rebrand and I’m not a part of their plans.”
The GMB presenter added: “I found out at 10 o’clock in the morning and by 10.30 am and email had gone out.”
Ranvir began to receive messages from old BBC colleagues and friends sharing their sympathy that her move to London and her new job didn’t work out.
“Even producers at ITV saying, ‘it’s been lovely knowing you,'” the presenter recalled.
She went on: “I had only just found out and I’ve got a toddler. I’ve got a mortgage and I’m now unemployed. I had a few months left on this contract and I was completely shocked and stunned.”
Ranvir said she went home that day and took her son to the park and recalled sitting on a swing while holding him as she broke down in tears.
She said: “There’s me crying in a park with my little son. My phone rings and it’s John Stapleton – a long term GMTV presenter.”
The ITV star shared the best advice he gave over the phone where he urged her to “not complain” but to keep turning up to work and doing your job.
Ranvir sent off an email to the former Editor of ITV News, Geoff Hill, who sadly died in 2021, where she asked to speak with him about getting some more work.
He cheekily told the journalist her career had “plateaued” which Ranvir rejected and explained her broadcasting career can only go one way and that is up.
Geoff offered Ranvir a Saturday presenting gig and a week later she also got to present a show on Sundays.
Less than two months later, she received a call to present the News at Ten on Fridays.
Ranvir has since been a presenter on Good Morning Britain since its launch in 2014 – which replaced Daybreak.
She is also a regular presenter on ITV News and also fills in for Lorraine Kelly on her daytime programme.
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