A British regional newscaster who left ITV five years ago to undergo gender confirmation surgery has finally returned to the network as the new host of ITV Border.

In a subsequent on-air interview marking her historic return, 50-year-old India Willoughby discussed feeling like she was "trapped in the wrong body" and her fears about the potential difficulty of transitioning so publicly.

"ITV have been fantastic, it hasn’t been weird or awkward and they have just welcomed me back," Willoughby told viewers, adding that she "didn't feel nervous at all" coming back to ITV because "they made me feel like I was home."

According to Metro, Willoughby said she left her job at ITV after catching her reflection in a mirror "while working as Jonathan Willoughby."

In the last five years, Willoughby took a job in PR and began living a "double life," presenting as female at her PR job on weekdays while presenting as male as she spent her weekends with her son.

"The way I explain it that it is like having a Ferrari engine but the bodywork on the outside is a Ford – so what would that make the car?" she said. "It runs like a Ferrari and has the inside bits of a Ferrari but the cosmetics on the outside it what is holding it back."

Willoughby also turned the interview into a learning experience for viewers, explaining the difference between gender identity and sexual orientation.

"People put being trans into the same category as LGBT – but this is weird because being trans has nothing to do with who you want to take to bed," she said. "It has nothing at all to do with sexuality, and people seem to misunderstand this. It is about being born into the wrong body, which I was."

Willoughby said she still enjoys the same relationship with former coworkers because "they have realised that I am still the same person, I just look different on the outside."

"It just shows how the nature of TV has changed for the better," she said. "I don’t think that I would have been accepted a few years ago."

Below, check out a clip from ITV's Lorraine, where Willoughby appeared in December to discuss her "double life":