MANILA – Anne Curtis teared up as she finally returned to the noontime show “It’s Showtime!”, where she was greeted with warm messages by her co-hosts Saturday.

Curtis, who appeared to be in disbelief over her return, acknowledged being elated to step back on “Showtime” stage after almost three years away.

“Grabe na-miss ko kayong lahat. It's a new experience. I'm just so happy to be here again, guys. It's been so long,” Curtis explained.

The actress also apologized to the “madlang pipol” for a rusty performance. Curtis had to ask for a second take of her opening number singing Ariane Grande’s song “Break Free.”

• 'Anne Pagbabalik': Anne Curtis returns as 'It's Showtime' host

“I'm still rusty. Rusty ako ngayon, ’yung performance ko ngayon. Parang it will take a while again to get back into the groove. Kaya pagpasensyahan n’yo na po madlang pipol,” she said.

Curtis also told her co-hosts how nervous she was to host again after a long break. Vice Ganda, however, was quick to remind Curtis to relax.

Each of the show’s hosts gave a message to the returning Curtis, which further brought her to tears.

“Na-miss ko ’yung pagiging makulit, ’yung pagiging sosyal niya. Na-miss namin ’yung ganda at seksi ni Anne,” Vhong Navarro said.

Meanwhile, Karylle was also in tears as she looked forward to hearing more Korean drama stories and bonding with the fellow host.

Newbie Ogie Alcasid, on the other hand, hoped to share thoughts about parenting to the new mom Curtis.

Curtis was last seen on “It’s Showtime” in December 2019, when she started her maternity leave six months into her pregnancy.

She welcomed her firstborn, Dahlia, with husband Erwan Heussaff in March 2020.

While Curtis had originally intended to resume her TV and film career when Dahlia turned 1 year old, surges in COVID-19 cases both in Australia, where she gave birth, and in the Philippines, delayed that plan numerous times.