ITV drops luxury segment on This Morning for being in ‘bad taste’ amid ongoing cuts

Andi Peters and Jeff Brazier will no longer be sent on luxury holidays abroad to promote ITV’s competitions

The fallout from the ongoing cuts at ITV has continued, with a “luxury” segment on This Morning now being dropped for being in “bad taste” after it “frustrated” production staff.

Hundreds of redundancies have been announced at ITV across recent weeks, affecting daytime programmes such as Loose Women and

It’s now been revealed that the broadcaster has stopped sending This Morning presenters Andi Peters and Jeff Brazier to far-flung locations to promote their competitions.

Peters and Brazier had one of the morning chat show’s more glamorous roles, being sent to exotic locations including the Maldives, Thailand, Australia, Sri Lanka, Florida, Cape Town and Malta to plug This Morning’s small competition segment.

“ITV have scaled back on sending top talent overseas to present their competition segments,” a source told MailOnline.

“The competitions themselves, which give viewers the chance to win six figure sums and idyllic holidays, bring in a great deal of revenue, but constantly flying the likes of Andi and Jeff to the Maldives and South Africa was starting to frustrate staff and viewers alike.”

They explained that the segments would “dial down for a few weeks after the budget cuts were announced”, and that no one has been flown abroad to present the contests since.

“As well as there being a backlash online from disgruntled viewers, it was felt continuing to send talent abroad to luxurious holiday destinations as others are losing their jobs would be in bad taste,” they continued.

Brazier and Peters have had their work trips halted (Instagram/JeffBrazier/ITV)

It comes after Loose Women saw their live studio audience cut to save on security costs. Nadia Sawalha expressed fear for her job last month as she shared her concerns on social media.

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Sawalha, who has been a panellist since 1999, addressed the news of cuts on her YouTube channel. “What people don’t realise at Loose Women is that we’re self-employed. I am self-employed,” she explained. “Every contract is a new contract. I could be let go tomorrow. I could be let go in five years. You don’t know because we’re not employees.”

Getting emotional, the former EastEnders actor, 60, continued: “What’s been brutal, absolutely brutal, over the last week, honestly I feel tearful about it, is that hundreds of people… are going to be made redundant out of the blue. These are all the people behind the scenes that support us in every way.”

The Independent has contacted ITV for comment.