Holly Willoughby was left in tears this morning as she arrived at the ITV studios for work on her 40th birthday.
To make her day extra special given the circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic, Holly's This Morning co-host Phillip Schofield had arranged for the staff to line the corridors with balloons and clap her in.
As Holly arrived in the doorway, Holly was reduced to tears as everyone applauded her and Stevie Wonder's 'Happy Birthday' blasted through the corridor.
Phillip shared the lovely surprise on his Instagram Story - posting the heartwarming gesture to his 3.1 million followers.
"The birthday girl is about to arrive, everything is ready. She doesn't know about this," he said. "She's about to walk through that door."
Phillip and the This Morning crew then proceeded to sing 'Happy Birthday' to the mum-of-three as she welled up and said: "I'm just going to go in here and cry. I'm going to spend all day in tears aren't I?"
Phillip had previously posted a sweet black and white clip of him and Holly on Instagram and simply captioned it: "Happy birthday gorgeous."
And she certainly did look gorgeous as she changed into the very same dress that her mum Linda wore on her 40th birthday.
Taking to Instagram, Holly posted a picture of her mum on her big day alongside one of herself in the same floral garment.
Holly captioned the post: "This photo of my Mum was taken on her 40th birthday at the party she had in the garden.
"I remember this day so clearly. It’s a strange thing to reach the age you remember your Mum being!
"I asked her if she’d kept the dress and of course she had... Strange moment zipping it up this morning, wondering how she felt on her big day...
"I can’t be with my Mum or Dad today but wearing this in her honour makes me feel closer to them... love you Mumma! #sothisis40," she added.
As she and Phillip began today's This Morning, the schedule was completely disregarded as Phillip revealed today's edition would be slightly different.
He then presented Holly with a fake beach party, with Gok Wan on the decks and chef James Martin making cocktails behind the bar.
Holly squealed with delight and removed her sparkly high heels because she wanted to feel the sand between her toes.
Phillip then presented her with a few presents, including a white Teasmade and a large posted of singer Paul Young.
The 65-year-old even recorded a special birthday message for Holly, after she admitted she used to refer to him as her "boyfriend" when she was younger and had a crush on him.
It comes after Holly admitted she feels like Peter Pan and needs to "grow up" now that she's 40.
The blonde TV star spoke about the milestone birthday on Tuesday's edition of This Morning when a viewer called in and confirmed they were celebrating their 40th.
Discussing how she had managed to celebrate during lockdown, Holly then asked her how she felt about welcoming the big 4-0.
She admitted that she had felt scared, but Phillip looked confused and asked: "Why?"
Holly then said: "I think it's because I can remember my mum’s 40th, so it feels like an adult age.
"I feel like it’s time to grow up now, like I'm Peter Pan," she added.
Earlier on in the show, Phillip mocked Holly as he read her a long list of things she should supposedly be looking forward to and also dreading as she enters the new decade.
