Crisis talks on Holly and Phil
Amid co-stars’ fall-out, ITV fails to confirm if they’ll even be on This Morning next week
ITV bosses were in crisis s talks over Phillip Schofield’s s future on This Morning last t night, leading to fears over r Monday’s show.
Holly Willoughby is considering - her own position following g the pair’s fall-out after 14 years s hosting the popular daytime e show together.
Ms Willoughby is said to have e been ‘blindsided’ after her co-star r went behind her back to release an n extraordinary statement confirming rumours of a rift.
Chiefs at the network called meetings to discuss what to do next ext amid the duo’s row and Schofield’s d popularity with the programme’s viewers plummeting.
And the Daily Mail can also reveal that the channel would not confirm that Monday’s episode of This Morning would take place as normal. The pair host the chat show together from Monday to Thursday every week.
Schofield’s contract is up for renewal in September but because he takes the summer holidays off, his final episode would be in July if ITV were to axe him.
Ms Willoughby, 42, is said to be mulling over how her career moves forward, as those close to her fear that there is ‘no way back’ for her friendship with Schofield. Sources close to the star say she was ‘surprised and sad’ that her co-star, 61, released a statement on Thursday night where he confirmed their friendship had been under strain recently.
He said: ‘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.’ However, friends of Ms Willoughby view the outburst as a ‘ betrayal’ and some of her loved ones are now urging her to ditch Schofield – the man who gave her her break on This Morning back in 2009.
One said: ‘The statement came out of nowhere for Holly and it was upsetting. What a betrayal. It feels like Phil is looking after himself here, with no regard for her.
‘Can she move forward with Phil? Probably not. That’s certainly what those who care for her are saying.’
Rumours of a rift began after it was claimed Ms Willoughby was upset that she heard from a third party about Schofield’s brother Timothy’s child sex court case March.
Schofield’s statement to The Sun newspaper read: ‘Holly’s support throughout meant the world to me, as did the support of my bosses at ITV, my editor Martin Frizell and the whole This Morning family.
‘And of course Holly has herself been ill with shingles.’
Meanwhile, This Morning editor Mr Frizell has pulled his support for Schofield having previously been a staunch supporter of the star.
Sources said he is fed up with clearing up Schofield’s ‘ mess’. Ms Willoughby has made it clear that she has no intentions to leave This Morning. It is likely that if Schofield does depart it would become her show or she would be joined by Alison Hammond.
LiKE millions of people i’ve long been a fan of Holly and Phil’s This Morning show, the jewel in ITV’s daytime Tv crown. We all supported Phillip Schofield when he came out as gay live on Tv in 2020 after 27 years of marriage.
Holly Willoughby, his dear friend of decades, was by his side on the sofa and hugged him.
They’ve been through so much together — for nearly two decades they’ve been one of the most famous double acts on television and we’ve loved them.
Even after they apparently jumped the queue to see the Queen lying in state most of us forgave them.
But now their friendship seems to be at breaking point. And though Phil’s put out a statement insisting ‘We’re the best of friends — as always’, insiders are far from convinced, with one saying his protestation was ‘desperate’. it’s claimed the couple are ‘barely speaking’ off camera.
What a terrible mess. How grizzly to see such a public break-up.
The moment that convinced me it was all over for them was Thursday’s show. The pair performed a silly dance to lulu’s Boom Bang-A-Bang, he prancing like a man possessed, she clearly embarrassed at this faux show of unity. Excruciating.
It started to go wrong when Phil took time off after his brother was convicted of sexually abusing a child. Was it that Phil didn’t confide in Holly about his brother? That Holly enjoyed his absence? Friends say that whatever happens, she’s staying with This Morning, making it clear it will be the Holly show, which seems a bit vainglorious.
Whatever the case, morning Tv should be cheerful, silly, life-enhancing. This is the opposite. it’s got ugly.
i have the tiniest of insights into how Tv couples can fall out, having done two series of a Channel 4 political show with Piers Morgan, called Morgan & Platell.
in the beginning we had great chemistry and were friends. By the end it was screaming matches, which he won because he was a better presenter than me, and we couldn’t stand the sight of each other.
Happily we rekindled our friendship after we parted company.
i hope Holly and Phil can, too. But given that painfully cringe-making dance on Thursday’s show, i’m not sure it will happen.