Yesterday’s show was “painful”
This Morning hosts, Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield have a long-time friendship, but the past few days has seen intense coverage on the pairs alleged falling-out.
The co-presenters appeared on their usual slot yesterday for the first time since news broke that they’re allegedly no longer speaking.
Millions of eagle-eyed viewers watched to see would the pair address the rumours but – they didn’t.
Some even described yesterday’s show as “awkward”, “painful” and “uncomfortable” to watch. Many believe that Holly and Phillip have lost their chemistry.
After the show, it was reported that ITV called a crisis meeting to decided on how to deal with the show amid all the rumours.
The rumours started following a report that said Holly found out about Phillip’s brother’s sexual assault case through a third party.
Timothy Schofield was found guilty of 11 sexual offences involving a child between October 2016 and October 2019.
Holly was said to be annoyed that her “best friend” didn’t tell her what was going on.
Holly was blindsided by this statement.
After they returned to work following the Easter break, the on-air tension grew and viewers really started to notice a change in the dynamics.
Phillip told The Sun: “The last few weeks haven’t been easy for either of us. As I have said before, Holly is my rock.
“We’re the best of friends — as always, she is an incredible support on screen, behind the scenes and on the phone.
“Holly has always been there for me, through thick and thin. And I’ve been there for her.”
Holly was reportedly blindsided by this statement and didn’t see it coming at all.
A source told the Mirror that the pair appear to be close on screen but it’s completely different when the cameras are off.
Over the past couple of weeks, Holly Willoughby has distanced herself from Phillip and in recent days, has removed him from her Twitter bio.
Her bio once read: “I was introduced to this by a Twitter legend @Schofe.”
Now, it simply lists her career accomplishments and current roles. Of course, this fuelled the rumours even more.
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Their co-star is now throwing them sly digs.
In recent days, presenter Eamonn Holmes made some snide comments about his This Morning co-stars.
According to the Daily Mail, he said that Holly and Phil deserved “best actors” BAFTA nominations.
Speaking on GB News, he said: “He’s brought in lawyers, she’s brought in a PR team. The public surely suss that there is no chemistry, that it is a broken fit between the two of them.
“This Morning doesn’t depend on who presents it. It’s an institution. It will carry on no matter who presents it. And anybody can check the viewing figures.
“There is no difference between when they present it, or whenever anybody else does.”
Six O’Clock Show host Karen Koster also made a remark about Holly and Phil’s reported falling-out.
Sharing a photo of herself and guest presenter, Brian Dowling smiling and hugging each other on camera yesterday, she wrote: “You wouldn’t see that on This Morning.”
“To say there has been a bit of tension is an understatement”
The iconic duo have had little spats in the past but have always seemed to come out of them stronger than ever.
However, loyal This Morning viewers say the pair started drifting in 2019 after they were portrayed as cartoons in a magazine.
The Sunday Times magazine printed cartoon versions of Holly and Phil on their cover with a crown drawn above Holly’s head.
Underneath, the strap line read: “Queen Holly: how Holly Willoughby eclipsed Phillip Schofield and became Britain’s hottest TV star.”
At the time, a source close to the pair The Sun: “To say there has been a bit of tension is an understatement.
“The article itself was brilliant and the cover was a bit of irreverent fun. But Phillip was pretty peeved, to say the least – not with Holly but with how he had been usurped.
“For her part, Holly was also quite mortified and felt terrible.”
Fast forward to September 2022 to the infamous jumping the queue situation at the queen’s funeral.
Phillip and Holly seemed very close after that and even though they tackled the backlash together, sources said their friendship suffered.
Changes could be made to the show..
Rumours are now circling that ITV bosses could replace Phillip.
PR Expert, Nick Ede, told Closer Magazine: “There’s an outside chance that there could even be a permanent female duo – Josie Gibson and Alison Hammond have proved incredibly popular and the combo of Alison and Holly recently proved very successful.
“If Phil were to leave, they have a bank of fantastic presenters to step in.
“Viewers love the likes of Joel Dommett, Craig Doyle and Marvin Humes who could match up with Holly.”
There was an open opportunity to address and clear-up the fall-out rumours on yesterday’s show when the pair discussed the day’s headlines but they chose not to bring it up at all.
Although Phil described Holly as his “rock”, it’s believed that Holly has no problem hosting the show on her own.
The show’s contracts are up this September and it’s been reported that Holly wants a new deal.
ITV has said that neither Holly or Phillip are leaving the show anytime soon but if crisis meetings continue and viewers continue to spot tension between them on air, they might not have a choice but to make changes.
