This Morning fans describe Holly Willoughby's big return to the show as 'peak cringe'

Holly Willoughby's return to This Morning after a summer break has not exactly gone down well with viewers.

It has been a pretty wild year for the ITV favourite, which all started off with an apparent feud with Willoughby and her former co-presenter Phillip Schofield.

Schofield ended up leaving This Morning and then ITV all together after he admitted to having an affair with a younger male colleague on the show.

Since then, Willoughby has been left without a permanent co-presenter on This Morning, with the likes of Dermot O'Leary, Alison Hammond and Craig Doyle stepping in.

With Willoughby's return on Monday (4 September), it was the much-loved Brummie Hammond who was on hosting duties alongside her.

However, the return of the regular hosts certainly fell flat with viewers, a show which started with the cast of Mamma Mia.

ITV

In the glorious London sunshine, the cast of the much-loved musical belted out classics such as 'Dancing Queen' with Willoughby, Hammond and Gyles Brandret.

The group waved their arms and danced to the music, with Willoughby embracing Hammond as the music faded out.

Obviously, the whole point of the show was to commence the new season of This Morning with a flood of positivity in what has certainly been a testing year for the ITV show.

However, a large number of This Morning viewers tuning in on Monday morning were far from impressed.

"This is it, we’ve reached peak cringe," one viewers wrote on X, formerly known as X.

A second on the social media platform added: "God ! This is so cringe worthy today.Nerves may be a part of it,but they're trying too hard and it's awful. At least in the hols there were some genuine laughs.#ThisMorning."

Meanwhile, a third remarked: "If there's a more cringe inducing show than #ThisMorning I'd like to know."

And a fourth bluntly put: "I've had surgeries more enjoyable than this."

ITV

Despite Schofield leaving earlier this year, Willoughby seems to be going nowhere from This Morning, as she took centre stage on ITV's recent daytime TV trailer.

A source told the Mail: "Holly is the future and ITV wanted to make that clear. It's a sure sign that she is at the helm and the other presenters will join her.

"It's a brand new start for This Morning, the scandal could have destroyed it but it has managed to keep going. There is a lot of excitement."