Holly Willoughby says she is "proud" of being dyslexic after she was criticised for her spelling as a child.
The presenter revealed that an early diagnosis when she was young helped her adjust to the condition and means that she is now confident reading the autocue for her job.
"I'm really proud of being dyslexic, it's one of my favourite things about me because it brings a unique skill set," the 40-year-old told This Morning viewers.
The conversation evolved as the pair quizzed Matt Hancock who is pushing for dyslexia screening to be rolled out across primary schools.
The mum-of-two bravely shared her own experience with dyslexia and how it impacted her journey at school.
She said that her mum would point out her spelling mistakes on Christmas cards, and Holly would say to her: "Its the communication, it's what I'm trying to say, that's the important thing, not how it's all spelled."
"Obviously, I am dyslexic - exactly what you are discussing here, I was a child at school and I got diagnosed just before my GCSEs which was brilliant and helped me then.
"I do wonder if I had an earlier diagnosis I could have had my learning tailored which may have helped me.
"Later on, once I knew, I got tailored support which was a huge difference to me. Things were put in place, learning support, and I think that is why I am probably OK reading the autocue now and I have the job I do now."
Holly said: "This is precisely what your bill is trying to achieve now isn't it?"
"That's right," said Mr Hancock, adding: "It is a shocking fact that just one in five children get identified if they are dyslexic at school and I want to change that."
"I want to have screening for all pupils at primary school and then the support and teaching to help them."
"Once they’re identified, then you can work out how to cope with it. In my case, I was re-taught how to read and write. I was taught to see words as pictures and learn each word as a picture and that’s what got me through.”
The Tory MP praised Holly for being so open, adding: "It’s wonderful and it’s great you talk about it, but not everybody does. I went for 20 years before talking about it."
“You’ve got to get out there and tell people because you - and people like you, Holly - can show that just because you’re dyslexic doesn’t mean you can’t get to the top table."
