Paul Henry farewells his mum: 'I miss her dearly'

Paul Henry was back on air this morning after a two day absence. Photo/Michael Craig

Paul Henry was back on air this morning for the first time since the death of his mother, and he quickly paid tribute to her.

Olive Hopes passed away on Monday after a long illness. She was close with her broadcaster son, with a statement posted on the Paul Henry Show Facebook page noting that they "completely and utterly adored each other".

Henry had been off air since but he returned to his morning news show today, and he quickly thanked viewers for their support, according to Fairfax.

"I just very quickly wanted to thank you very very much, all of the people who have so kindly sent in their kind thoughts and their condolences at the loss of my mother. Thank you so much for that, it was really touching," Henry said.

"I shared my mum's final precious moments with her and I miss her dearly."

Alison Mau filled in for Henry on Monday and Tuesday, and yesterday she and Henry's co-hosts dedicated the show to Hopes.

Today's show was dedicated to Olive, Paul's wonderful mother who passed away yesterday. We'd like to thank everyone for coming on the journey with us today. It has been a tough, but very moving day to see all the feedback, sending love and support to Paul at this time.

Posted by The AM Show on Monday, 12 December 2016

Viewers may have been surprised to see Henry back on air so soon, but this week marks the end of his morning show.

Henry confirmed earlier this year that he would be standing down from Paul Henry at the end of this year, and will be replaced by Duncan Garner for the revamped AM Show in 2017.

The broadcaster noted the upcoming end of the show this morning by reminding viewers it was the last Wednesday the Paul Henry Show would be on air.

He will remain with Mediaworks and is slated as a possible panellist for The Project which will replace Story in the 7pm slot.

Meanwhile Henry's daughter, Bella, who has appeared on the show as well as Hopes, shared a brief tribute to her nana on Instagram, posting a photo of the two posing together in happier times.

View this post on Instagram

God bless nan 😇

A post shared by BellaCollett (@belllhenry) on Dec 11, 2016 at 10:55pm PST