Yahoo News BBC Breakfast's Jon Kay tracks down the show's original red sofa
The BBC Breakfast host went on a mission to find the original red sofa - and found it in an ex-presenter's home.
BBC Breakfast host Jon Kay has tracked down the show's original red sofa to the home of former presenter Debbie Greenwood.
To mark the 40th anniversary of the BBC morning show — which launched as Breakfast Time in 1983 — Kay put out an appeal on social media as to the whereabouts of the red leather sofa first used on the breakfast show.
Former Miss Great Britain Debbie Greenwood, who hosted the show from 1985 to 1986, revealed she has a section of the original red sofa in her home.
Read more: BBC Breakfast celebrates mistakes with 40th anniversary bloopers reel
Kay tweeted: "Last week I went to Debbie’s house. And it’s all true. Debbie Greenwood has a section of the original BBC #BreakfastTime sofa!
So last week I went to Debbie’s house. And it’s all true. Debbie Greenwood has a section of the original BBC #BreakfastTime sofa! 16/ pic.twitter.com/uH81ciJFT4
— Jon Kay (@jonkay01) January 17, 2023
"OK, it’s only a small section. One seat. Debbie normally keeps it in her spare bedroom. But she puts it in her sitting room for us to film. “It means the world to me. That sofa changed my life. I’d never get rid of it. Imagine all the famous bottoms that have sat on it!
"And then Debbie lets me sit on it. On the actual #BreakfastTime sofa. The one I watched as a kid. It’s a bit squashy - and very squeaky. And the colour has faded a bit over the years. But - hey - we’ve found it. The red leather Holy Grail of breakfast tv."
Greenwood, 63, is now a wedding celebrant in London.
Kay was led to Greenwood by BBC Suffolk presenter Luke Deal who had a film review slot on Breakfast Time as a teen.
He revealed that most of the sofa was scrapped in the late 80s due to damage but some sections were auctioned for Children In Need. And he’d heard a rumour that one piece was given to a former presenter as a leaving gift in 1986.
During Kay's quest to find the sofa he learned that the modular leather sofa was a DS-11 by De Sede, made in Switzerland and bought from Harrods department store in London.
Read more: BBC Breakfast's Carol Kirkwood speaks out on Naga Munchetty feud rumours
Fern Britton claimed the sofa had been "embarrassingly squeaky" when she hosted the show.
Watch: BBC Breakfast celebrates mistakes with 40th anniversary bloopers reel
