Holly Willoughby opens up on COVID experience as she returns to 'This Morning'

Holly Willoughby has said COVID made her feel "rubbish" for 48 hours, as she returned to work after 10 days off.

The 41-year-old TV presenter rejoined Phillip Schofield on This Morning after finally testing negative for COVID-19 two days in a row.

Willoughby said: “It’s so nice to be back. I feel like I’ve been gone forever – I’ve watched loads of you!

“I had 48 hours of feeling really rubbish, you know, just in bed, head on the pillow, headache, all that kind of stuff and then after that I just felt like I had a bit of a cold but fine… it was just waiting for that line to go every morning! It was like the worst advent calendar in the world!”

Read more: Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield use 'cuddle curtain' to hug

She then joined Schofield on the This Morning sofa where they had their first on-screen hug in two years, to mark the anniversary of the first UK national lockdown on 23 March 2020.

Willoughby said "I think if you’d told me [then] that it would’ve been two years I wouldn’t have believed it… but it was and finally, it was worth the wait Mr Schofield!”

On Monday Schofield was joined once again by Josie Gibson to host the ITV morning show and revealed Willoughby was still in self-isolation as "she has that incredibly persistent and annoying red line that won’t go away".

ITV first announced that Willoughby had tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday 13 March and she was forced to miss presenting the Dancing On Ice semi-final that evening.

As of 24 February, people in England are no longer legally required to self-isolate if they test positive for COVID-19, but government advice states they should stay at home and avoid contact with other people, of they can.

Over the weekend the TV presenter shared a picture of herself in the garden wearing a dressing-gown and soaking up the sunshine, captioned: "Just what the doctor ordered."

Gibson, 37, joined Scofield on the This Morning sofa last week and Schofield gave viewers an update on Willoughby's condition saying she was "fine, just annoyed".

He himself was absent from the ITV studio after he contracted COVID-19 last month.

But he joined Alison Hammond and co-host Rochelle Humes via video-link on the ITV daytime show to give them an update on his condition.

Schofield told viewers of Dancing On Ice semi-final: "As you can see Holly isn’t here tonight. We found out just a few hours ago that she’s tested positive for COVID.

“I know what it’s like to watch this show from home, it is really weird. Holly, get well soon, lots of love.”

Read more: Phillip Schofield declares 'I'm free' after testing negative for coronavirus

When he was absent Schofield was replaced by Willoughby's old children’s television sidekick Stephen Mulhern, who joined her to co-host the celebrity skating show.

Watch: Holly Willoughby on growing sweetcorn in her garden