Dermot O'Leary has branded an employer "callous" after a viewer called in to This Morning to share her heartbreak over having been made redundant recently.
The 48-year-old returned to his co-host position on the ITV show this week alongside Alison Hammond, 46 - following its temporary break over the Christmas period.
The TV presenters led a phone-in on the show yesterday morning, in which its resident agony aunt Deidre Sanders, 76, gave advice to viewers dealing with the 'January blues.'
This included a caller, referred to as Lucy, who was contacting the show after finding out that she had been made redundant from her "dream job" earlier this week.
She said: "As I was celebrating my daughter's seventh birthday, I found out that I'm being made redundant. This job that I'm in is like a dream job, with so many prospects."
The caller then got emotional as she added: "I have four children and I was looking forward to being able to provide better for them and make a better life for us all."
Lucy said she'd been due to have some training in the New Year, so the news had "come as a huge shock and a bit of a blow". She added: "I'm struggling to get my head round it."
In response, Dermot remarked: "Also to get that news in an email Lucy, just sounds quite callous." The caller agreed with him, commenting that it "wasn't the best way to find out."
Deidre said that the employer had handled the situation "really poorly" and told Lucy during the call: "You should have been invited in for a personal discussion about it."
She then added: "The way redundancies are handled can make such a big difference to how you feel about it."
Deidre took the opportunity to conclude the call by sharing some advice with Lucy, which included taking comfort in knowing that she has her family's support through it all.
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She also suggested that the caller research the redundancy process and encouraged her to consider working on her CV, to ensure it's appropriate for future job applications.
This Morning continues on ITV tomorrow from 10am. You can catch-up on previous episodes through the ITV Hub.
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