BBC Breakfast: Sally and Ben open up Tuesday's show.
BBC Breakfast's Jon Kay was missing from his usual spot on the red sofa. Sally Nugent, who typically hosts the show with Jon from Monday to Wednesday, introduced a new face beside her for Tuesday's programme (March 19).
In an unexpected change, 52-year-old Sally was joined by Ben Thompson, a familiar face at BBC. At 43, Ben might not be a full-time presenter on the show, but he's no stranger to the red sofa.
Ben previously stood in for Jon when he couldn't make it on the show earlier this month, and also filled in for him in early February.
Jon, who regularly updates his followers on social media, has yet to address why he was absent from the show, but the presenter did make an appearance on Monday's BBC Breakfast.
On Monday's programme (March 19), Sally teased Jon about being in trouble after he kept saying "deep dive" following a segment on deep-sea mining. Sally seemed less than pleased, commenting: "Oh don't say that. That's one of those phrases you're not allowed to say."
However, Jon couldn't resist poking fun at his partner, saying: "Let's have a deep dive to our colleagues around the UK getting the news and travel where you are, see you in a moment."
Despite laughing, Sally warned him again: "You're in trouble now."
During Monday's show, Jon was shut down by Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch after they got into a heated discussion.
Jon fired a string of questions at the politician about her thoughts on Conservative Party donor Frank Hester's comments on Diane Abbott, labelling them as "racist". The visibly upset 44-year-old was taken aback due to this line of questioning, maintaining that the topic had been settled last week.
Visibly annoyed, she retorted: "Yes, that was one week ago. I'm surprised I'm still talking about it."
Later, Badenoch added: "The comments had been discussed over the weekend then. I'm just very surprised that instead of talking about the work we're doing here in the West Midlands, the work I'm doing with auto and manufacturing, that's not something people are interested in."
Once more, the MP took a shot at Jon, stating: "We are all working very hard to do so much for the people of this country and yet we spend all our time answering questions about last week's news, which was quite frankly a line drawn under once he had made his apology."
