Sarah, Duchess of York makes guest editor and co-host debut!
As part of her guest editor role, Sarah, Duchess of York took charge of the live two and a half hour show - at times from the gallery and studio floor - to deliver a mix of items and topics close to her heart.
Kicking off the show, Sarah said, “Hello and welcome to a special episode of This Morning, I’m Sarah the Duchess of York and I’ve appeared on this programme many times and, as an enormous fan of the show, I've always enjoyed myself here. Today though, I’m joining the family as co-host - brackets ‘fluff’ - alongside Alison and Dermot and as guest editor for the day. I've been working with the brilliant team behind the scenes to bring you some of the topics I’m most passionate about.
“I hope you enjoy today’s show, and all that’s left for me to to say is ‘run the titles!’” as she gave instructions to start the show.
Despite initially claiming to be feeling ‘terrified’, Sarah, Duchess of York went through the running order, had some fun with chef regular Marcus Bean by saying ‘Oh, you’re very good looking!’ before going on to give her opinions during the news review with good friend Gyles Brandreth to discuss everything from the roles of grandparents to AI.
Sarah and Dermot later hosted an item with Dr Sara to explain the importance of defibrillators before Alison and Sarah fronted a beauty item focussing on how to protect and repair your skin with expert Nadine Bagott. Sarah confessed, “My father died of melanoma, so this [wearing SPF] is very serious. Recently I’ve been talking about getting your screening done for breast cancer, we’ve just been talking about your heart and defibrillators and we must go and get our moles checked.”
Once the hosting trio were reunited, Sarah went on to say, “I’m having such a lovely time, but that’s because of you two!”
Dermot said, “We are really enjoying your company.”
Alison said, “It’s been an absolute pleasure to have you here. You’ve done such a great job with the show today…”
Sarah replied, “It’s down to your Christmas cake earlier with the rum in it!”
Dancing into the next item, Sarah, Duchess of York joined in with the Spin to Win competition and secured £1,000 for a lucky viewer, and went on to speak with more viewers during her love and relationship phone-in that left her co-host and viewers smiling after some suggestions of making memories or getting some saucy underwear!
Sarah also confessed, “I love a love note in the pocket, I’m a big romantic, I used to do that maybe in the squash shoes.”
During an item about dog rehoming, Sarah opened up about her personal experience taking on two corgis following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. She said, “Last year I found myself welcoming to the family two corgis in need of a home after the passing of Her Majesty The Queen… I have Mick and Sandy and five Norfolk terriers, so there are now seven [dogs] in total.
“Mick had his tail down to begin with and now a year later he’s only just beginning now to really enjoy himself…”
The ‘dogfather’ expert Graeme Hall said, “We do know that dogs go through a grieving process and you certainly see behaviour change… but they do sort themselves out and you’ll find that they will intermingle.”
Sarah added, “Yes, they all do get on now. But you have to be mindful, they all have their own characters.”
Before the end of the show, chef Marcus Bean got Sarah in the kitchen to show her how easy her favourite dish - a classic carbonara - is to do, and whilst remembering a time when Dermot was a TV researcher and worked with Sarah’s late father, Sarah said, “He really took a shine to this lovely researcher Dermot and he gave his kegerie to Dermot! So he was dish of the day that day, and you’re [pointing to Marcus] dish of the day this day.”
Sarah also made time to pop next door to see her Loose Women friends and get an update on their breast cancer campaign and enjoyed a catch up with Sir Cliff Richard.
Speaking to Cliff on his 65 year career and the release of his new album and book, Sarah said, “You really are as humble and as kind as you’ve always been, how do you do that?”
Cliff replied, “I always think you are a product of your family and when I first came into this business I was told ‘make sure you treat well the people around you on your way up because you’re going to meet them on the way down’ and it stuck with me. It’s much easier to be nice.”