It was a bizarre start to a Tuesday for many viewers as they tuned into This Morning to see a human dressed and living as a Dalmatian puppy.

Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield were joined by human puppy Tom Peters and his ex-fiancée Rachael Watson to discuss his life as a dog.

Tom, who goes by the name Spot, has won the Mr Puppy UK title and will be taking part in Channel 4′s documentary The Secret Life of Human Pups on Wednesday.

But before that, he came on the show to explain why he roleplays as a puppy and to talk with his ex Rachael about how it broke up their relationship.

Tom, a theatre sound and lighting technician, said: “It’s a means of being able to escape from life, from the day to day busy-ness that we live in and a chance to chill and relax and have fun with the simple things in life like a chew toy or hair scrunchies.”

He added: “It’s not sexual, the whole point behind puppy play is escapism.”

Tom, who ate a dog treat on the show, explained to Holly and Phil that he doesn’t not go to the toilet in the suit but has slept in a cage beside his handler Colin in the past. His diet includes stewed beef and chicken tikka masala.

He said it was no longer a dominant-submissive thing, but said it was predominantly a gay lifestyle.

Rachael, who split with Tom in 2008, said she knew he was interested in the lifestyle but he did not own the Dalmatian suit at the time. Although it eventually caused them to split, they are now friends again.

Tom and Rachael are now close afte rthey split in 2008 (Richard Ansett/Channel 4)
Tom and Rachael are now close after splitting in 2008 (Richard Ansett/Channel 4)

She said: “When he’s Spot he become a lot more confident… I’m proud of him being true to himself of what he wants to do. We’re a lot closer.”

She said the lifestyle was “not as scary as it used to be, it used to be a big taboo, but then being gay used to be as well”.

Tom said his family were “very shocked but they’ve been very supportive because they know I’m not doing any harm to anyone”.

Plenty of viewers were also supportive of Tom’s decision to live his life as he wanted, although many wouldn’t try it themselves.

But some found it a difficult lifestyle to understand.

Holly and Phil were praised for keeping straight faces.

It prompted plenty of jokes on social media though.

The Secret Life of Human Pups airs on Channel 4 on May 25 at 10pm.