Dame Joan Collins among guests for Good Morning Britain Christmas show

Dame Joan Collins shares a message of hope with viewers on Christmas Day when she appears on Good Morning Britain, saying: “We’ll meet again, as soon as possible…”

The actress, 87, is a guest on the ITV show’s first Christmas Day broadcast.

Other names joining hosts Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid virtually include fitness expert Joe Wicks, as well as the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.

Dame Joan says: “Well this year has been worse than anything I can possibly remember because you see I was such a young child during the time of the war and my mother was terribly protective and although she was scared stiff, she didn’t really allow us to be scared.

“And we were constantly, my sister was a baby, we were constantly shuffled around, we were evacuated all over the place, Chichester, Oxford, Brighton, Bognor, Ilfracombe, Dewsbury, you name it, we went. We went for maybe two or three months then we would come back, and the Blitz would start.

“It was quite scary going down into the Tube stations at night but it was so convivial Piers and Susanna, that’s what I miss about this last nine months, people were hugging each other.”

She added: “Laughing and drinking and talking and telling jokes and playing, what are those things, accordions and it was a lovely atmosphere that I remember of friendliness and camaraderie. And frankly I’ve really missed that.”

Asked for a festive message to the nation, she tells Morgan and Reid: “We’ll meet again, as soon as possible, I hope, and I think we will. Now that we have this vaccine that I will go rushing to get, I think that we can all start looking on the bright side again.”

Personal trainer Wicks, known as The Body Coach, raised more than half a million pounds for the NHS through his online fitness sessions during lockdown and was made an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

But he said he doesn’t exercise on Christmas Day, adding: “Christmas Day is all about food and being lazy and watching movies. I’m looking forward to getting stuck in later on.”

Morgan and Reid also exchange Christmas gifts during the show, which will be followed by Christmas broadcasts of Lorraine and This Morning.

This Morning’s Christmas show is the first in its 32-year history, ITV says.

Good Morning Britain airs on Christmas Day from 7am on ITV.