In his statement, Omaar thanked everyone for their “kindness and good wishes”.
Following the news that Rageh Omaar was receiving medical treatment after falling unwell while presenting ITV’s News at Ten on Friday 26th April, the presenter has now issued a statement thanking viewers for their well wishes.
In the broadcast on Friday, Omaar appeared to be struggling to read the bulletins, with and ITV News spokesperson saying in a statement that he “became unwell while presenting News at Ten on Friday and is now receiving medical care”.
In a follow-up yesterday (Saturday 27th April), an ITV News spokesperson said: “We appreciate viewers of last night’s News at Ten were concerned about Rageh Omaar’s wellbeing. Following medical treatment at hospital, he is now recovering at home with his family. We are wishing Rageh a speedy recovery and look forward to him being back on screen when he feels ready.”
Meanwhile, Omaar himself added in a statement: “I would like to thank everyone for their kindness and good wishes, especially all the medical staff, all my wonderful colleagues at ITV News, and our viewers who expressed concern. At the time, I was determined to finish presenting the programme. I am grateful for all the support I’ve been given.”
Wishing our friend and colleague @ragehomaar a fast recovery.
— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) April 27, 2024
All his friends at @itvnews are thinking about him.
And can I praise the @Ldn_Ambulance paramedics who were quite simply amazing. Thank you 🙏 https://t.co/3rgXfS0CNP
Many were quick to offer their well-wishes to Omaar on Twitter, which has been re-branded as X, since Omaar’s statement, including his ITV News colleague Chris Ship.
Ship wrote: “Wishing our friend and colleague @ragehomaar a fast recovery. All his friends at @itvnews are thinking about him. And can I praise the @Ldn_Ambulance paramedics who were quite simply amazing. Thank you”.
Meanwhile, Channel 4 News journalist Ayshah Tull wrote in a post: “Wishing the amazingly kind and wonderful journalist @ragehomaar a speedy recovery and sending my love to his family at what was a very worrying time for them”.
After the programme was first broadcast on Friday, it was subsequently pulled from airing on ITV’s +1 channel, with viewers instead seeing a message reading: “We’ll be back soon. We’re temporarily unable to bring you our +1 service. We will resume shortly.”
Omaar has been with ITV News since 2013, where he is international affairs editor, a deputy newscaster for News at Ten and the presenter of the channel’s current affairs programme On Assignment.