Kay Burley was back on Sky News on Monday morning, days after she was forced off air after suffering a terrifying health scare.
The broadcaster, 62, suffered a severe allergic reaction last week, which meant she missed her Thursday morning show.
Kay was practically unrecognisable in an image shared on Instagram depicting her badly swollen face alongside the caption: ‘When allergies prevent you from being on the TV. Sorry to have missed you all today.’
The Sky News star, who has appeared on Sky News since 1988 and hosts from Monday to Thursday, looked in good health as she returned to work.
She did not specify what had happened to cause the allergy.
Kay Burley was back on Sky News on Monday morning, days after she was forced off air after suffering a terrifying health scare
The broadcaster, 62, suffered a severe allergic reaction last week, which meant she missed her Thursday morning show
has contacted Kay for comment.
Kay has been candid about her heath in the past, as she revealed in 2021 that going through the menopause is ‘tricky’ to handle while working on TV and claimed hot flushes leave her ‘looking like she’s walked through the shower’.
The Sky News host, from Wigan, has requested the temperature in the studio where she presents her breakfast show is permanently set to low.
Speaking to The Times, the mother-of-one said: ‘The menopause is tricky. Especially for being on the telly. If I have a hot flush, the ladies need to come in during a break and try and sort my hair out. It looks like I’ve walked through the shower.’
She also admitted to feeling ‘very embarrassed’ about the incident which led to her being suspended by Sky for six months on full pay for breaking Covid rules while celebrating her 60th birthday in London in December.
The night saw her visit a restaurant with nine other diners – who sat at two separate tables to comply with the Rule of Six – and then use a different restaurant’s bathroom after the 11pm curfew.
It also resulted in the suspension of two of her regular guests, Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby and reporter Inzamam Rashid, for three months.
Kay, who was ‘not keen’ to talk about what happened, said she prefers the term ‘sanctioned’ and insisted she thought they were being Covid-compliant.
The Sky News star, who has appeared on Sky News since 1988 and hosts from Monday to Thursday, looked in good health as she returned to work
‘I was very embarrassed that I dragged… well, my colleagues found themselves in a position where they were unhappy and in the spotlight in a way that they didn’t want to be,’ she told the publication’s Times2 section.
‘We thought that we were Covid-compliant. We weren’t. I apologised publicly. I was suitably sanctioned and we move on.’
Kay denied she took any guests back to her Kensington flat, and said she didn’t know anything about the rumour that bitter Sky colleagues tipped off the press about her celebrations.
When the birthday party was exposed by Guido, Kay revealed she was taking a break from work after an internal review carried out by Sky into her birthday celebrations found that ‘Covid guidelines were breached’.
Kay was practically unrecognisable in an image shared on Instagram depicting her badly swollen face alongside the caption: ‘When allergies prevent you from being on the TV
She released a statement saying: ‘I have today agreed with Sky News to step back from my broadcasting role for a period of reflection. It’s clear to me that we are all in the fight against Covid-19 and that we all have a duty to stick firmly by the rules.
‘It doesn’t matter that I thought I was Covid-compliant on a recent social event. The fact is I was wrong, I made a big mistake, and I am sorry.
‘Some dear friends and colleagues – some of the most talented and committed professionals in our business – have been pulled into this episode and I regret this enormously.
‘I was one of the founding presenters on Sky News. No one is prouder of our channel’s reputation, the professionals on our team and the impact we make. I very much look forward to being able to continue my 32-year career with Sky when I return.’