Eamonn Holmes returns to wife Ruth on This Morning sofa after hip op

Eamonn resumed his presenting duties 10 weeks after the surgery and managed to stand up without the aid of his crutches as he was reunited with his wife, fellow presenter Ruth Langsford, on-screen.

He said: “Look, I can fully do all I’m supposed to do! There’s no point overstraining, but I can do all the basic things required,” before adding he thought he looked an inch taller.

Ruth told viewers how excited she was to have her presenting partner back, saying: “I’ve had a few TV husbands sitting here with me – but now I’ve got the best back!”

Eamonn, who has been absent from the ITV show since January, also shared advice with audience members going through the same surgery.

He said: “If you are facing a hip operation – or two as in my case – there’s light at the end of the tunnel, it can be done. Do your exercises, take your painkillers, and you will get through it.”

Ruth also made a suggestion, adding: “And be nice to your wife – who’s only trying to help!” before admitting she bought a bell for her husband as a joke and was aghast when he used it.

Eamonn’s return comes just days after he led the tributes to This Morning agony aunt Denise Robertson at her funeral, revealing she urged him to have the operation.

At the service, Eamonn spoke movingly of the colleague he had known since they worked together at the BBC in the 1980s.

He said: “You think when you leave school or university or college that’s you finished with passing tests – until you met Denise Robertson, the matriarch of Studio 8. Never was there a more shrewd judge of character.

“She could spot a fake at a hundred paces but once you were in as a graduate of the Robertson Academy of Life then you had a mum, an aunt, a best friend, a shoulder to cry on and a friend for life.”

Before the service, he spoke of following her advice to marry Ruth, to get a dog and to have his hips fixed so he could walk the new family pet.