GOOD Morning Britain suffered a tricky start to the week with an awkward blunder as the show kicked off.
Richard Madeley's off-air cue was heard as a booming voice from the gallery interrupted Laura Tobin presenting the weather.
The man's voice said: "Morning Richard, I'll just cue you like this..."
And as Richard joined his co-host Susanna Reid to present the breakfast show, it appeared the croaky presenters and guests all had a frog in their throats.
Viewers complained about "coughing fits" on air - as they kept clearing throats and coughing on air.
One ranted: "Someone get them a drink! Or a cough sweet!! So much coughing."
A viewer added: "There a lot of coughing on #GMB this morning."
"A lot of coughing going on," said another.
Another added: "There's a lot of coughing going on this morning in the studio."
Richard is back in the Good Morning Britain hot seat for a second week after saying he's ready to be the new Piers Morgan.
The TV stalwart has been a stand-in presenter on the ITV show since 2017, and is the bookies’ favourite to take over permanently.
He told The Sun earlier this month: “Good Morning Britain, it’s a good show to do. It suits me and, yeah, I think I suit it.”
We revealed last month how Richard had become the front-runner for the plum role, with bosses looking to extend the deal if he proved a hit.
He said: “Whether I’m going to be asked to take over, I have no idea. I have had no approach at any level formally or informally.
“The phone hasn’t rung, I haven’t had a ping into my inbox.
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“The bookies have me down as the front-runner and there have been opinion polls where I’ve come out reasonably well, but there’s a huge difference between that and it being a reality.
“I’ll go in, I’ll fill in, I’ll enjoy it and I hope they ask me back. But in terms of sitting in for Piers, it’s a completely open question.”