The This Morning studio was in hysterics on Tuesday morning, as Holly Willoughby and Vanessa Feltz reacted to a behind-the-scenes picture of Emmanuel Macron.
The French president’s official photographer released a series of snaps ahead of the second round of voting for the presidential election, with one photograph showing Mr Macron in an unbuttoned shirt, with his chest hair out for the camera.
41-year-old Holly and co-host Phillip Schofield, 60, chatted over the headlines with Vanessa and Matthew Wright on Tuesday’s programme and turned to the casual image of the French president.
The snap shows Mr Macron with one arm lazing across the back of a mustard yellow sofa, and his other arm with a slightly rolled sleeve.
Vanessa gushed: “I remember when you used to yearn to run your fingers through a gorgeous lustrous chestful of hair. Gorgeous. I love all that.”
In the candid pictures, the French president bears a resemblance to Bond actor Sean Connery or Burt Reynolds, both known for their bountiful chest hair.
As her fellow presenters looked slightly more dubious, she added: “Come on, I can’t be the only person. I think that’s a good look.”
Holly weighed in: “I think it’s a good backstage image. I think it’s a nice image.”
But Matthew joked as the ITV presenter visibly recoiled from the picture and Holly admitted: “It’s quite full-on.”
Phillip then joked: “It looks like a fire hazard to me.”
Mr Macron is running hoping to beat far-Right politician Marine Le Pen in the election.
Elsewhere on the Tuesday programme, hosts Holly and Phillip returned from their Easter break and sat down to chat with The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe journalist David Leigh.
Former Mirror journalist David Leigh flew out to Panama, where Anne was living when the con was discovered and he appeared on This Morning on Tuesday to discuss the media storm at the time.
He told hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield of Anne: “She was being disowned by everybody and she was in my care. I didn’t want anything to happen to her.
“It’s unusual to have a friendship with someone who you write a story about, but I wrote to her, gave her all the encouragement I could, and went to visit her.”
David continued: “Anne now has both boys back in her life. She has her four grandchildren. She lives a very quiet and anonymous existence. She’s obviously not enjoying this very much.”
This Morning airs weekdays at 10am on ITV and ITV Hub.
