Lorraine Kelly expressed concern for The Apprentice star Shama Amin after it was revealed that she had quit the BBC show on health grounds.
In dramatic scenes set to air during Thursday's third episode of the BBC show's new series, viewers will see Shama walk out of filming after being left in pain by her rheumatoid arthritis.
She tells Apprentice head honcho Alan Sugar: "Because of medical reasons, due to this process being so physically demanding, despite all the efforts the whole team has made to support me, I have had to make a difficult decision to leave the process.
"I would just like to thank you so much for this opportunity."
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Mum of five Shama, who owns a nursery in Bradford, was one of 16 contestants in the running for Lord Sugar's £250,000 business investment in the new series of the popular show.
Lorraine addressed Shama's painful Apprentice exit on her show on Thursday. Joined by Doctor Amir Khan she asked him: "One of The Apprentice candidates has had to pull out due to health problems?
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He replied: "Yeah this is very sad. She has rheumatoid arthritis and she feels the pressure and stress of the show has caused her rheumatoid arthritis to flare up and she's having to pull out very sadly."
"Anyone living with rheumatoid arthritis will know that stress or sleep anxiety can flare up symptoms."
Going onto address what rheumatoid arthritis is, Dr Amir explained that it is an illness when a person's own immune system attacks their joints and can also impact the lungs, the heart and the bowel.
He told Lorraine that the most typical symptoms are pain in smaller joints such as hands and toes first thing in the morning.
He added: "You can often get swelling and redness around those areas. If that's you, it's more common in women, usually 30-40; you must seek help from your GP.
"It is a bit of a medical emergency. The longer it goes on the more permanent damage it can do to your joints."
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