A funny thing happened last week to a CNN program that does not happen much these days: The ratings improved, and the increase just happened to coincide with the absence of one of its co-hosts.

“CNN This Morning” has been tanking in the ratings but the show got a bit of a positive reprieve over the past few days after co-host Don Lemon has been absent following an on-air sexist remark he made about GOP presidential contender Nikki Haley.

On Feb. 17, the day when Don Lemon was absent from “CNN This Morning,” the program garnered a viewership of 617,000 households. The following day, viewership increased to 678,000 households during the three-hour block. The figures were provided by Samba TV, the analytics firm that offers real-time data on audience measurement for streaming services, the New York Post reported.

As per the firm, viewership of “CNN This Morning” further rose on Tuesday, attracting 709,000 households. Lemon made his return to the show on Wednesday.

“Following the backlash from his remarks on presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s age, Lemon’s two-day absence from the studio actually appears to have boosted the network’s average ratings,” Dallas Lawrence, a senior vice president at Samba TV, told The Post.

“Average viewership the two days following his comments was up 5% compared to the average daily viewership the week before,” Lawrence added, according to the outlet. “In fact, two out of the three most-watched days in the past eight analyzed were the days in which Lemon was absent.”

The Post noted further:

Samba TV’s numbers contradict those of Nielsen, which showed that viewership of “CNN This Morning” dipped during Lemon’s hiatus.

The average viewership of the show on Friday, Monday and Tuesday was 324,000 people — which is down compared to the three days before his absence.

During the four days Lemon co-hosted before his sexist outburst, the show was averaging 355,000 viewers, according to Nielsen.

Interestingly, the number of female viewers who normally tune in to “CNN This Morning” dropped by some 20% during the three days Lemon wasn’t on the air, according to the figures released by Nielsen.

Lemon criticized Haley on last week for endorsing “mandatory mental competency tests” for politicians who are 75 years or older, suggesting that Haley was no longer in her “prime.” Lemon referenced “Google” to support his contention that Haley, who is 51 years old, will face a difficult challenge in winning the presidency, as women are only considered to be in their prime during their “20s, 30s, and 40s.”

“I’m just saying what the facts are. Google it. Everybody at home, when is a woman in her prime, it says 20s, 30s, and 40s,” he said to morning ho co-hosts Poppy Harlow and Kaitlin Collins. “And I’m just saying Nikki Haley should be careful about saying that politicians are not in their prime, and they need to be in their prime when they serve. Because she wouldn’t be in her prime according to Google or whatever it is.”

The report said that Harlow left the set “furious” for a bathroom break and was followed by Collins.