Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield made their return to This Morning on Monday following their summer break and the ITV programme has made a major change for the new series.
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The presenting duo informed viewers that after 18 months filming two metres apart from one another, Holly and Phillip would now be distanced by one metre on the show.
"We said that we had a bit of news for you. Remember this, the two metre stick that helped keep us safe for the last year and a half," began Phillip, with Holly adding: "Well goodbye to the two metre stick and hello to the one metre stick!" which prompted rapturous applause from the crew in the studio. She added: "Oh my gosh, we are so close and yet still so far."
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Phillip couldn't help but poke fun at the situation, admitting to viewers: "We're just randomly making up rules here, but this seemed like a good idea," before telling his co-star: "You still can't lick me."
The TV stars are back on the This Morning sofa after enjoying a summer break away from the show. Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford filled in for Holly and Phillip for the majority of the holidays, while Rochelle Humes, Alison Hammond and Andy Peters made appearances on the ITV programme last week.
Ahead of their return, Holly and Phillip expressed their excitement about resuming the hosting duties for a new series.
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Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield are back on the sofa
"It's nice to have a bit of time off over the summer to catch up with friends and family and I love getting out in the garden and pouring a gin and tonic," Phillip told ITV, adding: "But I love working so I never get holiday blues. I always look forward to getting back to a new series, I’m always happy to get back to work."
Holly echoed his delight: "Time with my family over the summer is the best, but I always look forward to seeing my second family back at This Morning. The return in September is always quite an exciting time to learn about what we've got coming up over the next year and it amazes me how the team always come up with new and fresh ideas every time."
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