This Morning’s Ben Shephard has confirmed that he will not be on the ITV daytime favourite next week as he takes a break from the show to work on a ‘top secret’ project

Ben Shephard, the host of ITV This Morning, has announced he will be stepping away from the show for a short stint and has left fans guessing about his mysterious plans. The former Good Morning Britain host, who currently presents the beloved ITV programme with co-host Cat Deeley, usually appears from Monday to Thursday, often timing his breaks to coincide with the school holidays.

However, stirring intrigue, Ben has now confirmed that he will not feature on next week’s broadcasts, reports Birmingham Live. On concluding Thursday’s show (November 7), Shephard excitedly told viewers: “I’m taking a couple of weeks away to go out and work on this exciting new project for ITV. It’s top secret! ”

The 49-year-old presenter teased that he was headed ‘to the other side of the world’ right after the broadcast, yet cleverly dodged any specific revelations. When Deeley playfully suggested he might be eating ‘witchetty grubs’ in an I’m A Celebrity challenge, Ben remained elusive, saying, “I can neither confirm nor deny where in the world I’m going.”

Deeley continued to probe, asking if he was slated to rendezvous with her ‘two mates’, presenting duo Ant and Dec, to which Shephard consistently maintained, “I cannot confirm or deny” anything about his journey. Intriguingly, Ben promised This Morning viewers a full reveal, promising to disclose all on Monday’s show “live from where I am in the world”.

While the star hasn’t revealed his plans, speculation is rife about which celebrities will be heading Down Under for I’m A Celebrity, which starts in just over a week.