‘We warned everyone: do not go near Tom Cruise!’ How Covid sent British TV haywire, five years on

From chatshows in spare bedrooms to the sheer terror of infecting Hollywood megastars, making television in lockdown became utterly wild. The insiders tell all

Nearly four years ago, back when Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield were still mates, and both still employed by ITV, it felt normal to watch the two This Morning hosts get emotional as they embraced through a “cuddle curtain” – a thick sheet of plastic with arm sockets. “Why does it feel like we’re in prison?” laughed Schofield. “This is what the internet was made for!” yelled guest Ant McPartlin, sitting on the sofa a safe two metres away.

It was proof that coronavirus had turned television completely upside down.

Topics

This is how we do it: ‘After mutual cancer diagnoses we didn’t have sex for five years. Then we discovered toys …’

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5 years on, what we learned from the COVID pandemic response

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‘We have ignored lessons’: how Covid continues to affect lives five years later

The ways the pandemic has shaken Guardian readers’ worlds – from new businesses to difficulty socialising. It’s been five years since the Trump administration declared a nationwide emergency ...
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From Covid to today: five years that changed our money

With the anniversary of the first lockdown approaching, inflation and market volatility are now facts of financial life
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What we still don't know about COVID 5 years after the WHO declared a pandemic

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We Were Badly Misled About Covid

Five years after the start of Covid, we still don’t know the truth.
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