Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby's return to This Morning has been under intense scrutiny following their public fallout.
The pair who were once the best of friends are now said to be at loggerheads, with many viewers left baffled as to why they have failed to address the speculation on screen.
It was reported that they had started to drift apart following the backlash they faced over false claims they skipped the queue while the late Queen Elizabeth was lying in state.
After Holly made the decision to cut ties with Phillip, sources revealed to the Mirror that ITV bosses are prepared to sack him if their on-screen chemistry is affected.
The pair returned to This Morning on Monday after bosses confirmed that the show would go ahead as normal, despite speculation surrounding Phillip's future.
But viewers were quick to notice that Phillip, 61, and Holly, 42, were not their usual selves – despite their best efforts.
Body language expert Judi James has now weighed in, sharing her thoughts on their rather frosty return.
She explained: "Phil's body language fight-back looked like a masterclass in stoic bravado as he used the ice-breaker of a guy playing the piano opener to hit the ground sprinting, cheering, clapping and bowing with arms outstretched rather than starting the show in the usual static side-by-side pose beside Holly.
"It smashed any awkwardness out of the park, although Holly's body language looked less convincing.
"When Phil did turn to join her his leg splay, hands in pockets power pose suggested confidence but Holly's chest-height hand clasp with bent wrists was a self-diminishing gesture and although she adopted a moth smile her eye expression looked sad."
While on-screen, they attempted to keep things relatively normal and shared laughs with one another during various segments.
Judi went on to explain: "A micro-gesture neck-wobble from Phil suggested some inner cockiness and when they turned their heads together to use eye contact his raised brows and playful-looking grin looked like an invitation to return to their normal state of playful fun."
Ahead of the main show airing at 10am, a brief preview of the pair was shown on ITV's Lorraine, the first time Holly and Phil had been seen together since Thursday (May 11), with Phil looking far from his usual chirpy self.
"In the trailer on Lorraine previously the pair had sat side-by-side on the sofa using a mirrored head tilt, with bullet-proof smiles in place but their eye expressions had looked telling," said Judi, before continuing: "Holly's smile did not reach her sad-looking eyes, while Phil's eyes even looked moist.
"It might have been the lighting but it could have been a sign of matching inner sadness."
