TV bosses have been left struggling to fill schedules amid the cancellation of multiple shows amid the spread of the Omicron variant.
ITV bosses made the difficult decision to pull the channel's leading programme Good Morning Britain from its festive schedule, in a bid to protect the cast and crew.
"There is a special GMB Christmas Day show which airs from 7 to 9am,” an ITV spokesperson told The Sun.
"But due to the pandemic and to protect our teams, we have decided to give them an extended break.
"GMB will not broadcast next week, but will be back on air on Tuesday, 4 January 2022.”
Initially, Good Morning Britain was supposed to air from 29 December up until New Year’s Eve, however plans have dramatically changed in the run up to what would have been a busy week of live shows aired on ITV.
Viewers will instead be shown episodes of Rylan Clark’s Supermarket Sweep as a replacement.
Before Good Morning Britain was cancelled altogether the breakfast show merged with Lorraine to create a mega show, replacing its main presenters with different names including Andi Peters.
This change was introduced in an effort to protect the co-hosts and crew from increasing Covid-19.
But as rates surged the decision was taken to replace the breakfast show by pre-recorded shows throughout the holiday season.
The announcement follows the news that Loose Women will also be cancelled in the run up to Christmas.
Over on Chanel 4, shows have also been affected, with Celebs Go Dating having to cancel the group trip the cast usually take at the end of each series, as a result of Covid-19 regulations.
This follows reports that one of the celebrities on the show tested positive for coronavirus, causing four other stars to temporarily exit from filming after coming into contact with the infected person.
Comedian Joe Lycett also confirmed on twitter that his Christmas special has also been axed as a result of pandemic restrictions.
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