Holly Willoughby gobsmacked as James Martin spills secret to mash potato recipe

Holly Willoughby was left gobsmacked during Monday's This Morning when she realised what James Martin uses in his mashed potato recipe.

The mum-of-three and her co-host Phillip Schofield invited the chef into the ITV studio to demonstrate how he makes his winter stew.

As Holly, 40, and Phillip, 59, tucked into a bowl of the stew with some mashed potato, they were keen to find out how he makes the side dish so delicious.

Phillip began by saying: "Well, I'm just looking at this mashed potato, I don't know whether to just sort of scoop it out and stick it directly on my heart!"

"Is that 50/50 that mash?" Holly then asked, to which James replied: "It's actually equal quantities of butter, cream and potato."

"Butter, cream and potatoes? So it's thirds? James!" Holly said looking stunned.

"Well, it's got salt and pepper in it," he answered as Phillip chipped in: "There's hardly any potato in it," before adding: "It's the best ever!"

"I can't stop eating this!" Holly admitted as James continued explaining how to make his white chicken stew.

At the end of the cooking segment, Holly told James: "Thank you very much, that was absolutely delicious!"

However, some viewers tuning in at home were not impressed at all and took to Twitter to comment.

"@jamesmartinchef I wished James’ recipes were a little more inclusive and less extremist with the use of butter. Actually some of us absolutely loath the taste of butter whether in dishes or on its own. Absolutely disgusting not to mention unhealthy. Bad choice #ThisMorning," one person posted.

A second person tweeted: "Christ, James Martin is usually pretty good, but I wouldn't feed any of that to my dog #ThisMorning."

And a third viewer added: "#ThisMorning This is the thing with James Martin. He is a good chef but he is a very untidy, disorderly and he tends to make unhealthy things!"

This Morning airs weekdays at 10am on ITV and ITV Hub.