Holly Willoughby suffered a COVID-19 scare at home after two of her three children came down with symptoms of the virus.
On Saturday, the This Morning host shared a heartfelt message on Instagram Stories detailing the reason she was forced to take time away from presenting.
Holly wrote: "Just wanted to say thank you for all your kind messages over the last few days. Two of our children were unwell and had symptoms of COVID."
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"In line with government guidelines we were waiting for the results of the tests before I could return to work, couple that with just wanting to look after two poorly children, it meant having two days away from @thismorning.
"I chose not to alert everyone to this because my focus was on looking after them.
"Thankfully all tests came back negative and everybody’s feeling much better. See you Monday! Once again thank you for all the lovely message."
Holly didn't reveal which of her children were unwell, but she shares Harry, 11, Belle, nine, and Chester, six, with her husband, Dan Baldwin.
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© Photo: Getty ImagesHolly and Dan have three children together
The star was replaced by Alison Hammond on Wednesday and Big Brother's Davina McCall on Thursday.
Her co-host, Phillip Schofield, made reference to Holly’s absence when he told viewers: "Holly’s having a day off. She's back on Monday."
Fans were concerned about her whereabouts and flooded social media with messages asking where she was.
"This is so strange. Why are they being so cagey about where Holly is?" wrote one, while another said: "Somethings going on with #ThisMorning weird about Holly having days off."
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© Photo: InstagramHolly's youngest child drew her a cute picture
Holly is known to take breaks from the show during the school holidays so she can be with her family, but she admitted to Red Magazine that juggling motherhood with her career is hard.
"Becoming a mum was the only thing I knew I definitely wanted when I was growing up, but the image I had never involved me being a working mum, and that's been the biggest challenge.
"I've been riddled with guilt about getting that part wrong. You love them so much and you don’t want to mess them up."
We are glad everyone is feeling better!
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