The This Morning team have broken their silence by sending a message to presenter Phillip Schofield during his time away from the ITV sofa.
Phillip has been noticeably missing from This Morning, which he usually co-hosts with Holly Willoughby, 42, since Monday.
However, the daytime show took to Instagram today to pay tribute to the star in honour of his 61st birthday, which he is marking today.
“Happy birthday @schofe, from everyone at This Morning,” the post from the show read, in view of its 2.6 million followers.
The message was accompanied by several photos of Phillip alongside his co-stars, including Holly and Alison Hammond, who replaced him on the programme last week.
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The post also featured a picture of Phil smiling on the show’s set while a confetti GIF fell around the snap.
Phillip took the opportunity to react to This Morning’s birthday post, showing his appreciation by clicking the “like” button.
The ITV show previously confirmed Phillip had been given the week off presenting the daytime show for “pre-planned leave”.
In Phil’s absence, Holly was joined on the sofa by Alison, who usually fronts This Morning on Fridays alongside Dermot O’Leary.
On Wednesday and Thursday, Joel Dommett fronted the programme with Holly.
When Alison appeared with Holly, she told viewers: “It’s so good to be here, it’s lovely.
“It’s nice actually, start of the week and you [Holly] are here.”
Holly replied: “It’s lovely having you here.”
The Masked Singer host Joel was equally happy to co-star with Holly, with the star congratulating him on his hosting stint.
Towards the end of Thursday’s episode, Holly told Joel: “Well Joel Dommett, you have been amazing, have you enjoyed it?”
“It has been an absolute dream,” he gushed in response.
“Thank you for showing me everything these last few days.”
Holly then said goodbye to ITV viewers as she prepared to take time off for the Easter holidays.
She told the camera: “I’m off for Easter, I’ll be back in a couple of weeks. Bye!”
It comes after claims Alison was being lined up by This Morning as Holly’s successor on the show in the event of her departure.
A source told The Mirror: “ITV bosses are clear they want Holly to return to This Morning next year.
“But while a question mark hangs over her future, there have been conversations about who could step in if she decided to go. Top of that list is Alison.
“She has gone from being seen as a safe pair of hands to a real asset to the channel.”
Responding to the rumours, an ITV representative said: “We do not comment on speculation about artists’ contracts.”
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