As the country was in disarray on Thursday morning with the government collapsing and Boris Johnson resigning, there were surreal scenes unfolding over on This Morning.
The ITV daytime show relocated from its usual London studio to throw a hilariously-timed mini festival in a forest.
This Morning came on air at 10am, shortly after Lorraine Kelly’s show was pulled from the schedules to make way for rolling news on the prime minister’s resignation.
After days of drama, on Thursday morning it emerged that Johnson would be announcing his exit from No.10 having been told by senior Cabinet ministers that he no longer had their support.
But rather than opening the show with reaction to the huge political developments unfolding, hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield welcomed dancing mirrored men, people dressed as butterflies on stilts and a drumming duo as they kicked off their “Forestival”.
Phillip did take a brief moment to acknowledging the timing of things, saying: “It’s not quite the morning we had planned. Obviously it’s a little bit surreal today following the news Boris Johnson will resign as prime minister at some point today.
“Even though we have got our festival bands on, we may cross over to Downing Street obviously at any point.”
“But for now, we are carrying on with our Forestival,” Holly added.
Later in the programme, they did welcome commentators Gyles Brandreth and Simon McCoy to discuss the happenings at No.10 against the backdrop of the This Morning Forest.
The show purchased the forest last autumn, and while its location has not been disclosed, it is an ancient woodland of several acres that can never be built on.
This Morning airs weekdays at 10am on ITV.