'EVERYBODY'S GOT A HEALTHY CRUSH ON BEN!'

GOOD MORNING BRITAIN'S SUSANNA REID AND BEN SHEPHARD TALK ABOUT HOW WELL THEY WORK TOGETHER AND TAKING THEIR ROLES SERIOUSLY

- NICOLA FAHEY

It's the bleary hours of Monday morning minutes after Susanna Reid has come off air and Michael Bublé's All I Want For Christmas Is You is blasting from the stereo in our west London studio.

In the make-up chair, the 51-year-old no-nonsense presenter is razor sharp and robust as though she's still in the Good Morning Britain hot seat, but instantly softens once she's joined by her co-star Ben Shephard.

"Ben lifts my spirits," she explains on our shoot in support of GMB's 1 Million Minutes campaign, which aims to eradicate loneliness in the UK. "Whenever I'm weary, he makes everything better. Everybody's got a healthy crush on Ben. Nobody has to whisper about their crush on Ben like they have to whisper about their crush on Matt Hancock!"

The broadcaster is referring to a recent confession of a newspaper journalist who went public with her secret attraction to the former health secretary-turnedI'm A Celebrity star.

"Apparently people do [fancy Hancock] but that's for them," she says, making her position clear.

It's been eight years since the broadcasting duo were recruited to launch ITV's GMB and there are times on our shoot when they could pass for a married couple. "She's never wrong, which is really, really annoying," jokes Ben, who's been happily wed to his university sweetheart Annie since 2004.

"She's an incredible journalist and brilliant with details - I don't think I could ever beat her in an argument! I love working with her, whatever happens we have a laugh."