This Morning agony aunt Deidre Sanders emotionally announced her beloved husband Rick has died, as she returned to the show on Monday.
Rick, Deidre's husband of 55 years, passed away just before Christmas last month she confirmed.
The daytime TV favourite announced his death on the show to her colleagues, as she opened up about the news she had been awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours List for 2023.
Deidre shared how the award came as a complete surprise, but shared why it was so special to her.
As well as appreciating the recognition, Deidre explained that she received the call about the honour prior to her husband's death.
Rick knew all about her recognition and even made a jibe about it, which she says she is glad about.
Her husband sadly died days later and before Christmas, with Deidre offered condolences by her colleagues and viewers watching at home as she confirmed this.
She told Andi Peters and Josie Gibson: "A special thing for me was, a lot of you know my husband died just before Christmas on December 16th.
"But this call came through about a week before he died so that was really special. I could share it with him and say what had happened.
"I was with Rick for 55 years, so that was really great. He was always a great tease so he had to get in a few digs first. But he did the next day tell my daughter and tell me just how proud he was, so that made it extra, extra special."
She continued: "It was lovely that we could share that, I think had he died before I got that news, it would have always just been a bittersweet thing so it’s lovely that we could share that."
Andi and Josie offered their condolences, with Andi telling her: "We are so sorry for your loss, we really are," while Josie added: "I'm so glad you got to tell him."
Deidre has previously shared that her husband suffered with Parkinson's disease, while he was also diagnosed with COPD (lung disease).
Viewers shared their love and support for the show favourite, with one fan writing: "Aww how sad .. condolences to Deidre."
Another said: "Congratulations and condolences to #Deidre Brought a tear to my eye."
It had been a tough year for the agony aunt, after she revealed in September that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer in June.
A month later she returned to the show and confirmed she was "really good" as she continued treatment.
She told the hosts at the time: "I’m really good, so I had this teeny, tiny cancer, which was spotted on a mammogram, I’ve had surgery, it’s all out, it’s gone."
This Morning airs weekdays at 10am on ITV1 and ITV Hub.
