TV-am's Nick Owen offers advice to Daybreak hosts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I74VTPKfzUs

As Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley take their first steps in the brave new world of breakfast television, one man knows better than most what the duo are going through.

Shropshire-schooled Nick Owen was in the exact same position 27 years ago, when he teamed up with Anne Diamond on the TV-am sofa at ITV.

Like Chiles and Bleakley, he had to find a way of persuading viewers to "defect" from a more established BBC show - and ended up perfecting a blend which saw him working with Anne for both the big channels.

So, what does the man who fronted Good Morning Britain from 1983-86 make of ITV's new Daybreak show so far?

"I thought it looked very good, very sharp and very bright," he says.

"I like the studio, the good graphics and I thought they had some good stories - a good mix."

Nick, who spent much of his young life in Shropshire while attending Kingsland Grange and Shrewsbury schools, adds: "A show that long cannot be undiluted news. It's got to be broken up with a lot of levity - a great mixture news magazine programme which is exactly what we did at TV-am."

The 62-year-old, who these days fronts the BBC Midlands Today evening news, says: "We always felt we were setting the agenda. Chemistry is absolutely vital too, I think, for a show really to succeed.

"I like to think Anne and I had it - we were very close friends. It is so important; you have really got to trust the person you are with and help each other along . . . very much like a professional married couple."

Nick isn't surprised, therefore, that ITV has pulled out all the stops to land Chiles and Bleakley, whose on-screen chemistry is seen as one of the key reasons for the success of BBC's The One Show.

But he knows they will be under big pressure to prove they are worth their multi-million pound salaries.

Recalling the days when he would be leaving home at 3.10am to head for the studio, he says: "The first few days are mighty tough. It is quite testing, you have got to pace yourself."

And his tips to Adrian and Christine? "They don't really need my advice, but I would just say be yourself on the programme. Be relaxed as well. That's it - getting the mix right and being yourself."