Rishi Sunak shocks viewers as he tells Alison Hammond he loves racy Jilly Cooper novels

Alison Hammond and Rishi Sunak stunned This Morning viewers as they bonded over Jilly Cooper's racy novels during an interview.

Presenter Hammond and her co-host Craig Doyle quizzed the prime minister on Thursday’s instalment of the ITV show, covering everything from immigration to Suella Braverman’s speeding row.

Fans were stunned when their chat took a turn and Hammond asked Sunak if it was true he was a fan of Cooper’s tales, which are known for their sex scenes.

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"Are you really into those books or is it not true?" she asked.

Laughing, Sunak replied: "Yes! I am unclear how that has emerged.”

"I love a Jilly Cooper book," Hammond replied, saying she couldn’t remember which titles, “just the sexy bits”.

"All the kind of Riders, Rivals, Polo, The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous, Appassionata… She’s done lots of different books, that’s the set of books that I like, those ones," said Sunak.

"You need to have some escapism in your life," he said.

Fans couldn’t quite believe what they were hearing and flooded Twitter with comments.

"The Prime Minister has just admitted to enjoying reading Jilly Cooper books on @thismorning," one tweeted.

"Didn't have that one on my 2023 Bingo card."

"Hearing that #RishiSunak loves Jilly Cooper books is potentially one of the most surprising things I expected to hear this morning," said another.

One viewer said they were "f****** crying over Jilly Cooper", adding: "Dear lord."

"He reads Jilly Cooper, well that’s er well," tweeted another, adding a crying with laughter emoji.

However, another viewer was unimpressed with the topic, sniping: "There's people starving across the country, highest food prices ever and NHS on its knees. And all Alison can do is ask Sunak if he's read the latest Jilly Cooper book."

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"Pathetic attempt to win over middle England aga-owners, I don't believe for one second Rishi Sunak is a Jilly Cooper fan, he probably much prefers books about spanners," said another.

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