Charlotte Hawkins made an emotional return to Good Morning Britain on Monday, following her exit from Strictly Come Dancing. The TV star struggled to hold back her tears as she discussed her departure from the BBC dance show with Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid, saying: "I am trying to keep it together, but it is a difficult morning. I'm sad that it's all over. It's like they say, you have this crazy, sparkly, magical world and you spend so much time in it. It gives you so much life, you're so full of energy working towards a challenge like that. On a personal level, it's such an amazing thing to do."
Piers Morgan poked fun at GMB co-host Charlotte Hawkins following her Strictly exit
Cheeky co-host Piers couldn't help but poke fun at Charlotte, jokingly describing her exit as a "national humiliation". As Charlotte was presented with a bouquet of flowers by one of the show's runners, he remarked: "You may have bombed out of the biggest competition on British television and it's obviously utterly humiliating, but we do have a tiny bunch of flowers for you. It's like someone nipped out the back and plucked a few dandelions, put them in a bit of cheap plastic, and said, 'There you go, thanks for nothing!' Tell you what, I'm going to get you a bigger bouquet."
Piers also took the opportunity to hit out at Strictly head judge Shirley Ballas, who mistakenly called Charlotte 'Mollie' on Saturday's show. "Mary Ballas just tweeted a sort of half apology for being so mean to Charlotte," he remarked. "I mean, what are judges coming to? When I was judging world talent shows, this wasn't happening. I got people's names right, and I spelled things correctly. It's not too much to ask, is it Mary?"
Shirley Ballas has apologised for mistakenly calling Charlotte 'Mollie' on the BBC dance show
Reflecting on her time in the show, Charlotte, 42, admitted the whole experience had been a little overwhelming. "It's a hard thing to put yourself through," she said. "Not only dance training eight hours a day, but mentally stepping out on the night was a huge thing to do." But she was unable to shed light on reports that her pro dance partner Brendan Cole is set to leave Strictly. "I'm seeing him later," she said. "I'll ask him later then, we can find out."