Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield are overjoyed at being able to hug again on This Morning now that Covid restrictions have been lifted, but admit some guests are less keen.
While Willoughby, 41, notes that the ITV daytime show now feels “back to normal” after tough restrictions that saw presenters and guests avoid all contact and stay ten feet apart were scrapped, there are still issues around hugging.
“You still have that moment when [a guest] walks towards you when they come on the sofa… I follow their lead really if they go in for a handshake or a hug,” the mum-of-three told the Mirror.
Agreeing, Schofield, 60, said some people had “forgotten how to be social” following numerous lockdowns and were now carrying scars from the ordeal.
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’”
In September 2020 at the height of the pandemic, the close co-stars used a plastic screen with built in sleeves in order to embrace each other safely.
Savouring the moment on screen, they said had been six months since they were last able to hug and said they would keep the screen for the “foreseeable future”.
The popular presenting duo are currently on a break from This Morning while they take time out over summer and are due to return to screens on September 5.
Willoughby has been enjoying some quality time with her family and shared a slew of snaps on Instagram.
Schofield meanwhile revealed last week that he has now had the second of two surgeries on his eyes to cure a “debilitating” eye condition.
He spoke of his delight at being able to see the sky clearly for the “first time in years” after having “floaters” removed.
