Eamonn Holmes planned a 'This Morning' "extravaganza" to celebrate his wife Ruth Langsford's 60th birthday - but he had to cancel it due to coronavirus.

Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford

Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford

The TV presenter wanted to pull out all the stops today (20.03.20) for his significant other following her birthday on Tuesday (17.03.20), but he had to axe his plans because the show is working with a skeleton staff and some guests are staying away amid the pandemic.

Speaking on the show today, he said: "We had an extravaganza planned for you today, but we couldn't do it because we couldn't bring people into the studio because of the coronavirus situation.

"All the people who we approached and said no ... it's the thought that counts."

But Ruth was delighted to turn up to work to see her dressing room covered in balloons and banners.

She said: "They decorated my dressing room this morning. I came in, it's very quiet everywhere, and I opened my dressing room door and it's full of balloons and happy birthday banners, and glitter.

"Thank you all for doing that."

While the extravaganza was axed, Eamonn did have one surprise lined up for Ruth, as he enlisted The Shires to sing happy birthday to her live in the studio.

He said: "Everything has been a disaster so far, but if you look over there it's The Shires."

Following the rendition, Ruth said: "That made all the celebrations cancelled worth it."

The couple also had to axe their Italy holiday this week as a result of the pandemic, which has left more than 10,000 people dead, more than 3,000 of which have been in Italy.

Speaking about the planned break, Eamonn said: "Unfortunately, it was to Italy. That got off to a bad start.

"Then for various reasons you couldn't have gatherings, there couldn't have been a party, and all sorts of things."

But Ruth put on a brave face, adding: "I've got all year to celebrate. It was a big one. Thank you very much for all your messages.

"I had taken time off to celebrate my birthday, but it hadn't quite worked like that. That's alright."

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