Ben Shephard was left gobsmacked on Wednesday’s edition of This Morning when a celebrity guest seemingly dropped a Strictly Come Dancing bombshell. As the show commenced, Ben was caught off guard live on air with a surprise for his 50th birthday, receiving heartfelt messages from his celeb mates and co-stars.

But it was Strictly finalist Chris McCausland’s comment that raised eyebrows. The 47-year-old comic quipped from his dressing room at the Strictly studios: “I am sending you this message from my dressing room here at Strictly studios, a dressing room that I am told could be yours next year if you’d like it. Remember, 50, not too old… the contract’s ready! ” leaving Ben visibly taken aback before cracking a smile.

The touching video tribute also featured well-wishes from Ben’s ex-Good Morning Britain colleague Kate Garraway, and This Morning’s own Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary. Fans flocked to Twitter to send their birthday greetings, with comments like “#ThisMorning Happy birthday Ben! !”Happy birthday Ben #thismorning”, and “Happy 50th birthday Ben #ThisMorning” flooding in.

The revelation comes hot on the heels of Tuesday’s This Morning episode experiencing technical difficulties, resulting in the programme temporarily going off-air. On December 10, viewers were met with an on-screen apology during the ITV daytime show’s unexpected interruption.

Viewers of This Morning were left bewildered when a technical glitch interrupted the show, displaying the message: “We’re sorry for any disruption”. Social media was abuzz with comments from fans, with one viewer posting: “ITV has been disrupted #ThisMorning”, and another stating: “ITV is off air.”

The broadcast resumed shortly after the hiccup. This incident followed criticism aimed at Cat Deeley’s on-air antics. Some audience members expressed their disapproval after she danced in a swimsuit during the programme.

At the start of the show, Ben pointed out that Cat had forgotten a humorous gift from Josie Gibson, to which he remarked: “Here you go, I retrieved it for you.”

Cat was presented with a swimsuit bearing Ben’s face, which she jokingly said she intended to leave behind, but then teased viewers by saying she’d wear it later. True to her word, Cat appeared after the commercial break wearing the swimsuit over her clothes.

Despite her playful intentions, some viewers did not appreciate the joke and voiced their opinions on X – the platform formerly known as Twitter. One comment read: “Surely, this is inappropriate and suggestive behaviour from Cat? “.