But she’d forgotten she was presenting a special swimwear programme today, part of the Morning Express ‘Real Women’ series. She agreed to model a one-piece swimsuit – she draws the line at a bikini on national television – so at least the marks on her stomach will be hidden. But she can’t do anything about the livid bruises on her arms and legs.

‘What on earth happened to you?’ her wardrobe stylist, Kym, exclaims when Stacey disrobes in her dressing room.

Stacey summons a rueful smile. ‘I tried out one of those electric bikes.’

‘Oh, my God! What happened?’

‘They go faster than you think. Don’t tell anyone – I feel silly enough as it is.’

‘Those things are a menace,’ Kym says, picking up her make-up brush. ‘My friend was working on America’s Got Talent when Simon Cowell came off one of those and broke his back. He couldn’t hardly walk for months.’

Stacey’s co-anchor, Brendan, is smug in his trendy board shorts and bare chest when she walks into the studio. He’s not part of the ‘Real Women’ segment, but he revels in his reputation as the housewives’ wet dream, and isn’t going to pass up an opportunity to show off his six-pack.

‘Nice outfit,’ he says, as she settles herself on the sofa and waits for the sound guy to mike her up. ‘Covers up the old mum-tum a treat.’

He knows how sensitive she is about her weight. Stacey’s battle with the bulge is familiar to viewers: they did a whole series around her ‘weight-loss journey’ a couple of years ago. Her personal ratings went through the roof. Thanks to her nutritionist and personal trainer, at thirty-eight she’s in better shape now than she’s ever been, but she’ll never have flat abs or a thigh-gap, because she’s not a pre-pubescent girl.

‘You’re gonna need to put on a shirt, Brendan,’ the sound man tells him. ‘I have to clip your mike to something.’

The floor manager is already counting down to record the trailer for the upcoming show. As soon as the light above the camera facing her blinks red, Stacey produces the warm, welcoming smile that’s endeared her to the nation.

‘Coming up in today’s show: the heartbreaking story of the “milk carton kids” who disappeared thirty years ago and never came home,’ she says.

‘And we meet the war hero defying the odds to parachute off Mount Everest,’ Brendan says.

‘Plus the latest in our series on Real Women: are any of us really “beach-body ready” and should we even be trying?’ Stacey asks. ‘All that and more in today’s Morning Express Show, coming up right after the news in your area.’