This Morning viewers were left unimpressed as the ITV daytime show got underway on Friday morning with presenters Andi Peters and Rochelle Humes at the helm.
As the TV presenters, who are standing in for regular hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willougby over their summer break, introduced the show they teased the cooking segment with Rustie Lee.
The TV presenter stood in the kitchen as Andi opened up about feeling emotional Rustie was in the studio with him as he had followed her career closely.
He said: "I'm not going to lie, I'm slightly giddy. When I wanted to get into television when I was much younger, Rustie was on TV-am and I used to watch you. Genuinely, I'm quite emotional because you inspired me."
The TV chef was touched by his kind words and walked over to try and give him a hug, however as Rustie approached Andi, he recoiled and refused to hug her.
He said: "I don't want to hug you though," as he stood up and moved away. "I don't do hugs. You two can hug, if you want to hug. I'm not a hugger," he added, gesturing to Rochelle.
Co-host Rochelle was left visibly shocked by the moment and stood up to walk over and hug a spurned Rustie herself, saying she didn’t understand why Andi had refused. Andi then inexplicably stood up and hugged Rustie anyway afterwards.
Yet he continued to receive tongue-in-cheek flack from fellow guests on This Morning, including Gyles Brandreth and Dr Scott, for the move, which culminated in him prompting a group hug with guests and crew in the ITV studio later in the programme.
However, This Morning fans at home were still left galled by the one, with one taking to Twitter to write: “Andi trying to rectify his previous behaviour..to late mate we all saw your ego.”
A second tweeted: “Sooooo weird and not funny...not hugging Rustie thank god for Rochelle Humes...so so weird.”
Another savagely posted: “Miserable man that Andi Peters ! A hug from Rustie would melt away any worries.”
This comes after Conservative MP Rishi Sunak was interviewed on the show by Andi and Rochelle on Thursday.
The former Chancellor of the Exchequer is in the running to be the next prime minister of the UK after Boris Johnson stood down in July.
Rishi is in the leadership race alongside Liz Truss, and he appeared on This Morning on Thursday morning to discuss his hopes for becoming the party leader, and the prime minister.
But the interview technique of the hosts didn't impress fans, as amongst discussing current issues including the cost of living crisis, and rising inflation, the pair asked Rishi about whether he liked fish and chips.
After he was pictured in McDonald's this week, the pair went on to ask him what his favourite meal was in the fast food franchise.
As the interview went on, fans shared their annoyance on Twitter - as others reacted to Rishi fangirling over presenter Andi, claiming he grew up with him on the TV.
One viewer said: "Rochelle and Andy were the completely wrong presenters to be interviewing Rishi Sunak."
