Richard Bacon shaved his stubble live on air after revealing the Good Morning Britain editor threatened him with his P45.
The stand-in host, who sat alongside Kate Garraway on Friday, was forced to use an electric shaver at the beginning of the show after it was revealed he had “defied” the wishes of the programme’s editor.
“He came on holding a P45,” Bacon explained after Charlotte Hawkins told fans the editor had been on set with shaving foam in hand.
“I can tell you that is the first time an editor has given me a P45 on screen.”
Admitting that he “would like to come back one day” to the popular ITV breakfast show, Bacon took the electric shaver from Garraway and got to work while she filmed him close-up on a GoPro.
But Bacon soon had to give up attacking the silver stubble as the razor “wasn’t very sharp”, instead opting to shave when they cut to the news.
Around 20 minutes later, Bacon was back to being “silky smooth” as Hawkins read out a series of comments from viewers about his facial hair.
“I just think I look like a kids’ TV presenter with grey hair,” sighed a fresh-faced Bacon. “I was one once briefly…”
On Thursday, Bacon made his show debut and opened up about his grave illness last year, explaining what happened to Susanna Reid.
The presenter was put in a medically-induced coma for nine days last July, having contracted a double lung infection. The illness was thought to have been exacerbated by a flight from the US to the UK.
Bacon said that the illness gave him a new perspective as he “saw the best” in people.
“When you come that close to death, you also get to see the best side of people,” he said. “Not just the NHS that saved my life but also friends.”
He revealed that Piers Morgan, the regular GMB host, had called his wife to check in on his condition, an action he hailed “very thoughtful”.
Good Morning Britain is on ITV, weekdays at 6am
