This Morning hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield are delighted to hug each other again after Covid – but say guests are a little less hands-on.
Social distancing had kept the pair apart on the ITV show but Holly, 41, admits that while it was “lovely” to hug Phillip again once restrictions were lifted, guests still showed a bit of trepidation.
She said: “It feels like we’re up to full capacity again now with guests coming back in. It feels like the good old days.
“Although you still have that moment when someone walks towards you when they come on the sofa… I follow their lead really if they go in for a handshake or a hug.” Phillip agreed that while he and his friends are hugging again, it is yet to become the norm with the show’s guests.
He said: “It’s interesting that we are having to re-learn how to do that – not amongst our friendship groups but with guests who come in and we say ‘are we hugging?’ It scarred us all in some way and I don’t think we’ll ever forget that it happened because it was damaging on so many different levels.
“Some say, ‘I’ve almost forgotten how to be sociable’ so it might take a few of us a while to get back to normal.”
The pair are back on our screens on September 5 after taking the summer off.
And Phil, 60, says that after 40 years in the business, he doesn’t get nervous any more but still finds it bizarre how some guests do. He added: “Often it’s actors and you see their hands shake. For some, being themselves on live telly can turn them to jelly.”
- Phillip and Holly return to This Morning from Monday September 5 at 10am on ITV.
