Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield use 'cuddle curtain' to hug for first time in six months
Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield were able to embrace for the first time in months on Tuesday's This Morning with help from a plastic curtain.
Due to social distancing measures the colleagues and close friends have had to keep their distance since March.
They returned to their hosting duties this week following their summer break along with a plastic sheet that had armholes for each of them so they could hug each other without skin-to-skin contact.
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The presenting pair's hug saw a collective 'ahh' come from the studio, including guests Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly.
"Oh my god," exclaimed Willoughby. "I don't want to let go. There you are."
McPartlin joked: "This is what the internet was made for."
Willoughby then suggested the curtain should have a place in the studio after they had both touched it.
"Can we keep cuddle curtain in the corner?" she questioned.
During her break from the programme, the mother-of-three enjoyed a summer holiday to Portugal with husband Dan Baldwin, sons Harry, 11, and Chester, five along with nine-year-old daughter Belle.
The family cut their holiday short so Willoughby could come home in time to quarantine before returning to the ITV show.
McPartlin and Donnelly were able to sit together on the programme as they explained they had formed a “cohort” to be able to work on Britain’s Got Talent and I’m A Celeb.
"We're in a cohort. We're working on Britain's Got Talent and other things at the moment.
"So we get tested every four days,” McPartlin explained.
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It comes as ITV has confirmed BGT's prerecorded semi-finals will be airing on the channel from Saturday.
