'Feel my heart!' Rylan Clark completely freaks out after Ruth Langsford pretends to see the Loch Ness Monster in the Thames on This Morning

The news that the Loch Ness Monster has been sighted in London's River Thames has clearly set some people on edge.

And none more so than Rylan Clark, who completely lost his nerve during the live broadcast of This Morning on Wednesday.

The presenter looked terrified as he glanced out the window at the start of the programme to the water behind him to try to catch a glimpse of the fabled water monster, before later being terrified by his co-star Ruth Langsford during a prank.

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Shock! Rylan Clark lost his nerve on This Morning on Wednesday, as Ruth Langsford pranked him, pretending to see the Loch Ness Monster in the River Thames

The 27-year-old former X Factor star was clearly shaken by the idea that the Loch Ness-based beast, which is largely believed to be the stuff of legend, is in the British capital and has been obsessing over it.

Recent footage of the Thames taken by a member of public on the Emirates Airline cable cars showed what looked like a large creature in the water, swimming past Greenwich's O2 Arena.

And while they have been chatting about the supposed sighting on the show, it all got a bit too much for Rylan as Ruth played a prank on him, causing him to act hysterically in a panic.

In a split-second move while they sat on the sofa in front of the windows, the 56-year-old presenter pretended to have seen something out of the window and in the river.

Prank! Ruth, 56, played a joke on her 27-year-old co-star, pretending to see the legendary monster in the river outside the studio

Panic: Rylan quickly leapt to his feet to see what she had been reacting to

The hilarity! Ruth couldn't keep it together as she fell about laughing while Rylan acted hysterically

As she gasped, a terrified Rylan quickly jumped up off the sofa and squealed, causing Ruth to fall about laughing at his reaction.

Looking traumatised, the TV star said, his head in his hands: 'I thought there was something wrong! Feel my heart, look what you've done!'

Ruth couldn't stop laughing while apologising, adding that she was surprised he reacted so quickly to her joke. 

Rylan, trying to calm down, explained: 'I didn't even think about the monster, I thought we were getting attacked, I thought someone come out the kitchen cupboard.

'You need to sort your life out Ruth!'

'You need to sort your life out Ruth!' Rylan was shocked at her trick as he added he thought they were being 'attacked'

Meltdown: The former X Factor star had revealed earlier in the show that he was terrified by the idea of the Loch Ness Monster in the Thames

Earlier in the show, Ruth had had fun winding him up as Rylan was freaked out by a shadow that fell over the Thames.

'There's something going on and I don't like it!' he said, much to Ruth's amusement, who attempted to tell him that it was probably just a seal.

'Look at the size of that crane and you call that a seal?' he remarked, getting hysterical. 

Also during the show, the lovable host joked that Nessie had come down to watch Adele perform at the O2 Arena.

Scaredy-cat: He tried hard to pull himself together after his moment of panic

Although Rylan may have been left rattled from the ordeal, fans of the ITV programme loved his reaction as they took to Twitter in their droves.  

'Rylan on this morning kicking off about the Loch Ness monster in the Thames is the funniest,' wrote @xmollll.

And ‏@Charlie__Tweets added: 'Kind of wish @Rylan could see the Loch Ness monster to put him at ease. @itvthismorning.' 

One user made a quip about Rylan's bright white teeth, with ‏@cooperbloke writing: 'Looks like that Loch Ness Monster going down the Thames is trying to give Rylan his old teeth back@itvthismorning.'

Keeping watch: Ahead of the broadcast, the This Morning Twitter account shared a picture of Rylan looking over the Thames after reports claimed the Loch Ness Monster had been spotted in London's river

Just an April Fool's prank? Footage captured by YouTube user Penn Plate showed a mysterious creature surfacing on the Thames before sinking back under the water

User ‏@doodleberry6000 commented: 'Omg just seen the Loch Ness monster behind the @itvthismorning window @Rylan.'

While ‏@GBrown84 was in fits of giggles, writing: 'Omg I love @Rylan he makes my morning @itvthismorning I was wetting myself with laughter at his antics over Grinny the Loch Ness monster!'

And @ChloeGunn17 remarked: '@Rylan it's not the Loch Ness monster it's me coming to see u in my submarine I came a day early.'

However, not everyone found his antics so amusing, with ‏@southby85 mocking him: 'The Loch Ness don't exist in Scotland so why would it be in England only @Rylan would believe something like that.'

Earlier in the week, footage shot by YouTube user Penn Plate showed a humped figure making its way through the huge river near the O2 Arena - before sinking back under the water.

Penn said: 'This was on the cable car in Greenwich yesterday. Something huge was moving under the water and then briefly surfaced.

'Are there whales in the Thames? Or is it some weird submarine?'

Social media loves it! Fans of the show took to Twitter to laugh and joke about Rylan's reaction