Piers Morgan and his wife Celia Walden were burgled while they slept in their French villa during their holiday, she has revealed.
Celia awoke on the final morning of their getaway to find thieves had stolen jewellery and cash, and taken her handbag from their room as they slept.
The incident happened early on Thursday morning, shortly before the couple were due to leave the Cote d’Azur in the south of France and return to the UK.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, journalist Celia recalled how she woke up at 6.15am to prepare to check out of the property.
“I knew the second I walked into the sitting room that something was wrong,” she said.
“The previous night had been spent getting our rented house ready for checkout – but the place was a mess.
“My handbag was upside-down on the sofa, the box I keep my jewellery in lying empty beside it.
“The up-turned handbag found in the sitting room had originally been on a chair in our bedroom.
“They must have crept in there and stood inches away from us while we slept.”
Celia, who has been married to Piers since 2010, said she felt a “stomach-plummeting sense of violation” at the actions of the “depraved and despicable, inhuman” thieves.
Among the stolen items were a number of sentimental pieces including an art deco ring that the Good Morning Britain presenter bought her on their fifth wedding anniversary.
Police said they believed the thieves left the villa after hearing Celia press the snooze button on her alarm.
Piers and Celia cut short their holiday after the UK government announced that anyone arriving in the UK from France after 4am on Saturday would be required to spend 14 days in self-isolation due to rising numbers of coronavirus cases.
Posting a picture of himself with sons Spencer and Bertie at the airport, Piers joked that they were “quarantine dodgers”.
Piers and Celia jetted out to the south of France with his two sons and their daughter Elise after he hosted his final Good Morning Britain for the summer last month.
During their jaunt, Piers was reunited with former Britain’s Got Talent co-judge Amanda Holden when their families met up for lunch.