Holly Willoughby has spoken out following her highly-anticipated return to This Morning.
The presenter said she felt “shaken, troubled, let down and worried” as she made an emotional reappearance on ITV in the wake of Phillip Schofield’s departure from the ITV programme.
Addressing viewers, the 42-year-old choked back tears as she said: "Good Morning, Josie thank you for being here. Right deep breath.
"Firstly, are you okay? I hope so. Feels very strange indeed sitting here without Phil and I imagine you might have been feeling a lot like I have.
"Shaken, troubled, let down, worried for the wellbeing of people on all sides of what's been going on.
"And full of questions. You, me and all of us at This Morning gave our love and support to someone who was not telling the truth, who acted in a way that they themselves felt that they had to resign from ITV and step down from a career that they loved.
"That is a lot to process, and it's equally hard to see the toll that it's taken o their own mental health.
"I think what unites us all now is a desire to heal for the health and wellbeing of everyone. I hope that as we start this new chapter and get back to the place of warmth and magic that this show holds for all of us we can find strength in each other.
"And from my heart, can I just say thank you for all of your kind messages and thank you for being here this morning.
"Myself, Josie, Dermot, Alison, Craig and every single person that works on this show, will continue to work hard every single day to bring you the show that we love."
The TV presenter was back on screen after being pictured in Portugal with her family on a half-term break following the shock departure of her former co-host Schofield, and his subsequent revelation of an affair with a younger ITV male employee.
During interviews last week, Schofield told The Sun and BBC that Willoughby did not know about the “unwise, but not illegal” affair.
Willoughby was joined on screen by Josie Gibson and thanked viewers for their support.
Former This Morning presenter Eamonn Holmes and the show’s former resident doctor Dr Ranj Singh have both separately made allegations about the culture behind the scenes at the programme in the wake of Schofield’s departure.
ITV boss Dame Carolyn McCall has been called to a parliamentary committee on June 14 to answer questions about the broadcaster’s approach to safeguarding and complaint handling following Schofield’s exit.
An overnight report in The Sun suggested Schofield indicated he would not be watching Willoughby’s return to screen, with a friend telling the publication he “physically could not watch — he’s not there yet."
Get the latest celebrity gossip and telly news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily Showbiz newsletter here .
READ NEXT:
Phillip Schofield 'blistered hands' from vaping too much following affair scandal with ITV colleague
Holly Willoughby's career could be over due to one Phillip Schofield mistake
Phillip Schofield says he will 'die mortified' over This Morning affair scandal
Phillip Schofields 19 bombshells - and how daughters 'scared to leave his side'
Phillip Schofield opens up on his last text to Holly Willoughby and her frosty response
