Good Morning Britain viewers were left wondering what was going on when the director of the ITV show interrupted the programme live on air to hand the host a 'P45'.
Richard Bacon was presenting the morning favourite for the first time today (April 25) as he stands in for Piers Morgan.
But it seems that ITV bosses weren't happy with one thing about his on-air presence.
And it led to the former Blue Peter presenter being given an amusing ultimatum, reports the Liverpool Echo.
As the 43-year-old was wrapping up his and co-host Susanna Reid's interview with Harry Potter star Warwick Davis, he was telling viewers how the show would return tomorrow.
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He turned to Susanna and said: "Well, you won't be here, but..."
The star was about to say how he is lined up to host the breakfast programme on Friday when the director walked onto the set.
The director stood over him and said: "It is either this [holding a brown envelope with the words 'P45' on] or this [a bottle of shaving cream and a razor]."
It was an indication for Richard to shave off his stubble and be clean-shaven ahead of his next show or he wouldn't be allowed to host.
Laughing, Richard said: "Let's leave this in the air, will I take the P45?"
While his look may not have gone down well with TV bosses, many fans of the show loved his look, some even calling him 'eye candy'.
Taking to Twitter one said: "What a refreshing look to #gmb you have aged very well. #eyecandy."
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Another said: "@richardpbacon so much easier on the eye than the previous stand in and like a fine wine better with age."
Others also loved Richard's glasses, one said: "@richardpbacon glasses on!! Look hot!"
Before the show, Richard said: "I’m really excited to be Piers Morgan’s understudy! I know Piers and Susanna quite well. We hang around a lot in LA.
"In fact, I’ve seen Piers and Susanna in the early hours before but that’s usually because we’ve stayed up late! I’ve hosted a US breakfast show before but not since The Big Breakfast have I hosted a UK breakfast show. So I’m really excited.
"It’s always a challenge filling in for someone because you can’t come in and take over. The challenge is always how do you get comfortable and natural in something you are only doing for a couple of days for the first time!"
