Fiona Phillips said a tearful goodbye this morning after 16 years of presenting GMTV — and a host of stars wished her a fond farewell.

Tearful: Shephard reads out stars' messages

The 47-year-old host cried as colleagues showed a moving montage of her “best bits” since she joined the show as entertainment correspondent in 1993, before landing the job as anchor in 1996.
Gordon Brown wished her luck, while fellow presenter Ben Shephard read out farewell messages from celebrities including Take That, Kate Winslet and the Beckhams.

Perfect tens: Dancing judges Craig, Arlene, Len and Bruno hold up scores in a tribute video

Strictly Come Dancing judges, Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli, Arlene Phillips and Craig Revel Horwood gave her 10 out of 10 scores for her work on the show, and she even had a live videolink chat with Donny Osmond, who she once fell off a sofa in excitement at meeting.

Chelsea Football Club — of which she is a huge fan — brought her gifts including a shirt and a toaster which imprints bread with the letters CFC. Phillips, who quit saying she wanted to spend more time with her family, said: “All my life's big things have happened to me on this show. My mum died, I got married, I had two kids.”
She thanked her fans, saying: “It's been a privilege sharing my mornings with you, so thank you.”

Phillips is being replaced by Sky News business presenter Emma Crosby, who starts on 5 January.