This Morning host Holly Willoughby might be hoping to put the ongoing behind-the-scenes drama surrounding the show behind her, but she had no such luck when regular guest Gino D’Acampo made an appearance on Tuesday.
ITV’s flagship daytime show has been dominating the headlines for weeks now, first when it was reported that Holly and her co-host Phillip Schofield had fallen out, and later when he abruptly announced he was leaving This Morning after 20 years.
A week after that, Phillip confirmed he was resigning from ITV altogether after his admission that he had lied about having an affair with a younger colleague on the show.
Since then, This Morning has also faced allegations of a “toxic” environment behind the scenes, which ITV quickly addressed in a statement.
Tuesday’s edition of This Morning saw Gino returning to the studio for the first time in six weeks, and he wasted no time in alluding to the media storm that had surrounded the show in that period.
“It’s a bit strange because I was going to make melanzane parmigiana… but apparently I can’t do anything with aubergine at the moment,” he began. “So I’m going to make tiramisu.”
This might seem like an innocent enough remark – until, that is, you remember This Morning’s editor Martin Frizell being stopped in the street by a reporter to be asked about allegations of “toxicity”, to which he responded by making a series of jokes about aubergine. His response was later criticised by an ITV executive.
While Holly laughed off Gino’s remark, her co-host Dermot O’Leary pulled an awkward expression, but the Italian chef was clearly just getting started.
“It’s OK! I can live with it! Everything is under control, I’m back!” he joked, before adding: “Any news in the last month that I should know about? Anything I should know? OK, we can go straight into the cooking.”
Gino then questioned why Dermot had gone suddenly quiet, to which the former X Factor star responded: “I just need to rephrase, he’s back for a one-time-only [appearance].”
“So this is my last time?” Gino asked, with Dermot joking: “Let’s see.”
When Phillip first announced his departure from This Morning, it was revealed that Holly would be taking an extended half-term break.
She eventually returned earlier this month, beginning her first broadcast with a speech about her former co-presenter’s exit.
Holly is now hosting the show with different members of the existing This Morning presenting team, including Craig Doyle, Alison Hammond and Josie Gibson, until a permanent co-host can be found.
This Morning airs every weekday from 10am on ITV.