'This Morning' Hosts Shocked That Former ITV Host Is Now A Teacher

When Michael Underwood called into This Morning via video link earlier today, hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby were surprised to learn that the former television presenter is now a school teacher - and was calling into the show from his classroom.

Underwood and his wife, Angelica Bell, both joined the show via separate video links to talk about Chris Evans' new "500 words" short story competition, and it was only then that Phillip and Holly realised that he had switched careers.

ITV

Not only had Underwood been the host of CITV show Jungle Run, he was also the entertainment correspondent for GMTV, and even starred on Dancing On Ice in 2009. But, as he explained to the hosts, the presenting work dried up so he used his original university degree, which was in teaching.

"Michael, I had no idea you're a teacher!" exclaimed Schofield. "Are you in school now?"

"I am!" Underwoodl replied. "My class is right here. Say hello, boys!"

That's when he turned his screen to show a classroom of kids all waving at the camera and saying hello to the hosts in the studio.

"That's amazing!," said Willoughby. "How's it all going, the kids being back?"

"Yeah, it's been brilliant, it's been fantastic," replied Underwood. "It's great to see the boys for a start. It's been three months."

ITV

Of course, Underwood's presenting career isn't entirely over. The reason that he and his wife were on This Morning in the first place is because they're going to be hosting the reboot of Chris Evans' 500 Words short story competition for children. It'll be aired by Virgin Radio as a one-off pop-up special in aid of the Black Lives Matter movement.

500 Words was initially started by Evans in 2011, but he announced earlier this year that it would be coming to an end in 2020. He was, however, determined to make the special a success.

"We are going to crack on with it because we can move a little bit quicker, the machine at the BBC has lots of machinations, and is brilliant at best but really takes some firing up especially for 500 Words with it's big leading time.

"We think we can accomplish a 500 Words Black Lives Matter special starting from Monday."

Topics: UK News, TV and Film

Mischa Pearlmen

Mischa is a freelance journalist usually based in either New York or London. He has written for Kerrang!, Record Collector, NME, the New York Observer and FLOOD magazine, among others. Contact him at [email protected]