This Morning viewers were left cringing at an awkward moment when host Andi Peters refused to hug a guest live on air.
Andi and fellow presenter Rochelle Humes, who are standing in for regular hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby over their summer break, introduced the cooking segment with chef Rustie Lee on Friday's episode. Andi said he was feeling emotional about Rustie being in the studio with him as he had followed her career closely.
He said: "I'm not going to lie, I'm slightly giddy. When I wanted to get into television when I was much younger, Rustie was on TV-am and I used to watch you. Genuinely, I'm quite emotional because you inspired me."
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The TV chef was touched by his kind words and walked over to try and give him a hug, however as Rustie approached Andi, he recoiled and refused to hug her, reports The Mirror. He said: "I don't want to hug you though," as he stood up and moved away. "I don't do hugs. You two can hug, if you want to hug. I'm not a hugger," he added, gesturing to Rochelle.
Co-host Rochelle was left visibly shocked by the moment and stood up to walk over and hug a spurned Rustie herself, saying she didn’t understand why Andi had refused. Andi then inexplicably stood up and hugged Rustie anyway afterwards.
He continued to receive tongue-in-cheek flack from fellow guests on the ITV show, including Gyles Brandreth and Dr Scott, which culminated in him prompting a group hug with guests and crew in the ITV studio later in the programme. However, This Morning fans at home were still left galled.
As the tweet above shows, one viewer said: "Andi trying to rectify his previous behaviour..to late mate we all saw your ego."
A second tweeted: "Sooooo weird and not funny...not hugging Rustie thank god for Rochelle Humes...so so weird.” Another posted: “Miserable man that Andi Peters ! A hug from Rustie would melt away any worries."
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