Good Morning Britain’s Robert Rinder fought back tears as he paid an emotional tribute on Monday morning’s show after the death of his dog over the weekend.

Co-star Susanna Reid supported Rinder as he described the “emotional connection”  he had shared with Rocco.

He said: "It's not just people. It's about needing to have an emotional connection and feeling a sense of mission and purpose. In my case, it was the structure of my day. Like lots of people,  I wasn't a dog person and then this beautiful, snoring creature came into my life and gave me absolute loyalty and unconditional love."

Susanna joked:  "Snoring, malting." Holding back tears, Robert continued: "Right? All of those things..." 

"There's nothing like the profound delight of arriving home and this beautiful creature being completely full of limitless joy just to see you. No human being will gift you that.

"Anyone who is a dog owner who has ever experienced that sort of loss will understand. I never thought I'd be this person. There are many people out there who might roll their eyes and shrug their shoulders and know there are big issues in the world."

He continued: "To have had the gift of loyalty of a loving dog and to have lost that dog or a pet is a challenging thing. Years ago I might have been a bit sceptical of, but thank you for a beautiful loving life and I loved him very, very much."