Richard Madeley informs GMB viewers he hasn’t ‘got the sack’ following reports

Presenter has been absent from ITV series for a short while

Richard Madeley informed Good Morning Britain viewers that he hasn’t “got the sack” on the latest episode.

Madeley has been absent from the ITV breakfast series for a short while recovering from an accident that led to an operation.

His co-host Susanna Reid acknowleged his return on Monday (6 March), stating: “We haven’t yet, Richard Madeley, said welcome back. You appear to have made a full recovery.”

A squeamish Reid then grimaced as Madeley revealed details behind the accident, explaining how a car door had slammed into him with such an impact that it made him bite his tongue.

“I was either a freak having an accident or I had a freak accident,” he said, adding that the incident happened when he was “crouching down on a slope” while “fiddling around with something at the bottom of the car”.

He explained: “I turned around as the door decided to close itself. Gravity pulled it shut, it’s a big heavy door.”

The broadcaster went to hospital where he had to have three stitches in his tongue.

Madeley then pointed out: “I didn’t actually get the sack as one magazine reported.”

Reid said the injury sounded “horrible”, telling him: “I don’t know why I‘m asking you, because there’s something about tongues.”

As his co-host shuddered, Madeley told her: “Let’s not go into anymore detail – you don’t want to hear it.”

Susanna Reid shudders as Richard Madeley details tongue injury (ITV)

In Decemver, Madeley suffered a fall in the snow moments before a GMB broadcast went live from Whiston Hospital in Merseyside.