Lorraine viewers were left cringing as they spotted Phillip Schofield appearing to look worried as Fern Britton made an appearance during his 40th work anniversary celebrations.
The pair famously fell out following her sudden exit from This Morning after hosting the show together for seven years.
Halfway through Fern's two year £1.5million contract with ITV, she made the decision to hand in her notice on This Morning.
At the time, her friends claimed she felt "undervalued by ITV" and that she was "living in Phil's shadow".
Surprisingly, Fern appeared on Lorraine via video link as she said: "50 years is an incredible milestone and it's time for you to stop and look back and see all that you have achieved and be proud of it.
"So I'm wishing you a very happy future. Congratulations and keep going."
But Phil appeared a little uncomfortable - something that didn't go unnoticed by viewers.
One tweeted: "#Lorraine his face when Fern was talking. He looked a tad worried."
While another joked: "he didn’t look happy hearing from Fern."
A third wrote: "Fern clearly can’t stand him."
"Fern did that through gritted teeth," another quipped.
In his autobiography, Life Is What You Make It, Phil addressed a blazing row he had with Fern which he believes was the final nail in the coffin.
Phillip said he and Fern argued in a makeup room in 2009 over the content of a show – and he was "stunned" when she accused him of "meddling."
Phil said: "I walked back into the makeup room and calmly said, 'Please don't do that to me again.'
"I think, for whatever reason, that was the point Fern decided she didn't want to do This Morning any more."
He claimed he had tried to "make it right" over the years but she had moved on and he "misses her deeply."
Fern and Phil's strained relationship was back in the spotlight in 2018, when This Morning celebrated its 30th birthday.
She was invited onto the show to share her memories of working alongside Phil, and it turned a little awkward when she was cut from the air - though the show explained it was a technical issue.
When she dialled back in, things turned awkward when she claimed she hadn't been invited to the This Morning BAFTA ceremony.
"Congrats on the BAFTA," she frostily told Phil.
"That was absolutely wonderful and brilliant. I would have loved to have been there but I didn't get an invitation."
Phil disputed this, claiming she was on stage in Scotland at the time.
Fern shot back: "I wasn't on Monday night, I would have come but I wasn't invited."
Phil later made a jibe on Twitter about Fern's memory.
He wrote: "Odd really, because she was invited and declined #memoryloss we’d have loved her to be there. A vital and much loved part of the show."
*Lorraine airs weekdays at 9am on ITV
