ITV's Lorraine interview cut short and pulled off air after Pope Francis death

ITV chatshow Lorraine was dramatically cut short today by Christine Lampard as the presenter announced the death of . The with Cardinal Kevin Ferrell announcing the sad news at 7:30am.

Christine was midway through an interview with Pilgrimage star Harry Clark when she was forced to interrupt him for the breaker news. Lorraine was then taken off air, with Good Morning Britain's Ranvir Singh and Richard Madeley taking over to announce that . While Harry was speaking about filming the Two show, Christine halted him to say: "Harry, I'm sorry, we're just going to interrupt you just for a moment. Interestingly, we're talking about Pilgrimage as well as faith and belief.

"We've just been told there is breaking news in the last few minutes from the Vatican. We're going to head back to Richard and Ranvir at ."

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Richard and Ranvir then took over, telling viewers: "Christine, thank you so much. as you say, we do have some breaking news from Rome. The Vatican has just announced the death of Pope Francis."

Richard then read out the statement from Cardinal Kevin Ferrell, which read: "Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. At 7.35am, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father.

"His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of His Church. He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage, and universal love, especially in favour of the poorest and most marginalized. With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the One and Triune God."

cut back to Lorraine after 15 minutes of GMB's coverage, with Lorraine resuming her chat with Harry Clark.

Pope Francis had suffered a number of health issues over the last few months as he was admitted to the Gemelli hospital in Rome for bronchitis treatment in February.

Tributes have since poured in, with Scottish First Minister John Swinney describing him as "a voice for peace, tolerance and reconciliation", while Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said that he was "in every way a man of the people".

In the final days before his death, the pontiff continued to make phone calls with members of a Catholic parish in Gaza - although he had been forced to cancer several events due to his health.

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