This Morning’s Craig Doyle makes a blunder as he stands in for Dermot O’Leary

This Morning host Craig Doyle made a gaffe when he took the place of Dermot O’Leary on Wednesday’s episode of the show.

The star, 52, has taken over from Dermot as he celebrates his 50th birthday and headlines the show with Alison Hammond. He will also co-host Thursday’s show.

Still, things started awkwardly when he failed to realize the show had returned from a commercial break and confessed to viewers, “I forgot we were on television!” We were all chatting and then the music started!’

The Irish presenter is best known as a presenter for BT Sport, where he covers Rugby Union and MotoGP.

He made his debut on This Morning last year while taking Dermot’s place alongside Josie Gibson.

The blunder comes after ratings for This Morning have seen a dip since Phillip Schofield’s shock departure.

Part of his decision to leave was said to be part of a rating drop that happened while he was presenting.

However, his last show last Thursday still averaged 644,000 viewers. This figure had dropped to 638,000 when Alison and Dermot hosted this Tuesday.

Monday’s show fared better, averaging 703,000 viewers who were no doubt eager to see how the show would handle Phillip’s departure.

Phillip, 61, revealed he quit the ITV show over the weekend at 21 after a turbulent week and a reported feud with co-star Holly Willoughby.

Regular Friday hosts Alison and Dermot have taken over for two weeks, while Holly is enjoying a half-period break — it hasn’t been announced who will host with her when she returns.

Alison and Dermot opened Monday’s episode with a tribute to Phillip, but made no mention of the controversy when they started Tuesday’s show.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Alison and Dermot made no mention of Phillip’s abdication and were happily dancing at Club Tropicana as they came on the air.

With a smile, Alison said, “Hello everyone and welcome to This Morning on Tuesday! A little Club Tropicana!’

The pair then discussed the sunny weather before announcing that Wham!’s Andrew Ridgeley would be on the show.

They confirmed: ‘It’s been 40 years since Wham’s debut album and today we’re speaking with Andrew Ridgeley!

‘We also have Juliet Sear in the kitchen with her scone masterclass, Daisy Payne is live with us from Chelsea in Bloom and we have the latest sneaker trends!’

During their cheerful introduction, they made no mention of the recent This Morning drama, after paying tribute to Phillip on Monday’s show.

He received a 30-second tribute at the start of the show after Alison and Dermot intervened when he was suspended after 21 years and Holly took an early vacation.

The new era also kicked off by removing Phillip from the show’s credits — less than 48 hours after he left amid reports of a split with his co-star Holly.

Alison and Dermot started the show by briefly discussing his departure, but there was no editing, just a single picture of Phil on screen and about half a minute of warm words.

Opening the broadcast, Alison said, “We can’t start today’s show without paying tribute to the man who has sat on the This Morning bench for the past two decades.” Phillip Schofield.’

Dermot added: ‘So as a show everyone on and off the screen at ITV and This Morning on say a huge thank you to Phil for what he’s done to make the show such a success over the last 21 years.’

Alison continued, “Simply put, we all know he’s one of the best live television broadcasters this country has ever had, and we and the whole team wish him all the best for the future.”

Alison and Dermot, who co-host the Friday show, are contenders to take over Phil’s role permanently given their experience on the show.

Alison is currently bookmaker Ladbroke’s favorite to take the role, giving her a 2/1 chance.

However, ITV have yet to confirm a permanent replacement, nor who will host the rest of the week.

Phillip announced this weekend that he was stepping down from presenting the ITV talk show with ‘immediate effect’ after more than 20 years on the programme.

His departure came amid reports of a rift between him and Holly, and after his brother, Timothy Schofield, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after being convicted of child offences.

Phillip said in his statement, “I have always been proud to write fascinating stories on This Morning. But recently, This Morning itself has become the story.

“Throughout my entire TV career – including the very difficult last few days – I have always tried my best to be honorable and kind.”

Holly said: ‘It’s been over 13 amazing years presenting This Morning with Phil and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank him for all his knowledge, his experience and his humour. The sofa won’t feel the same without him.’

Kevin Lygo, ITV’s managing director of media and entertainment, said: ‘Phillip is without a doubt one of the best broadcasters of his generation and we thank him for his two decades of absolutely amazing television on the This Morning bank.

“This Morning was created by one of television’s best and most diligent teams, producing over 12 hours of live television each week.

“We look forward to continuing our relationship with Phillip, starting with the British Soap Awards in June and a brand new peak time series coming up.”

Holly and Phillip have reportedly called a truce in a private chat, with Phillip agreeing to leave the show in a deal that will see him get another solo presenting gig – and hold discussions about his future on other shows like Dancing On Ice.

Phil reportedly has only “flaps” of his friendship with Willoughby after allegedly failing to tell her about his brother’s sexual abuse case.

An ITV source told The Mirror last night: ‘Phil’s fate was decided on Friday. It was a unanimous decision that he had to go.

He was upset, but determined that if he walked away he wanted to keep his roles on The Cube, the British Soap Awards and Dancing on Ice – crucially, with or without Holly.

“It’s all been worked out as smoothly as possible, but behind the scenes he’s told friends he’s been left to dry. And his friendship with Holly is now in tatters.

“It’s hard to see how it could recover. That he chose to expressly thank people who supported him – and the viewers – without mentioning her, says it all.’

The once inseparable couple had grown increasingly apart in recent months, but the split became final after Phil allegedly kept 42-year-old Holly in the dark about his brother’s sexual assault trial.

He issued a sharp statement on social media thanking fans for their support, but did not mention Holly at all.

It is clear that Phil, who was described as ‘a broken man’, dug in his heels to stay until the end, and it took ‘a lot of persuasion’ to agree to terminate his contract immediately. It means that last Thursday was his last appearance on This Morning.