‘We jump any queue.com’... Twitter jibe as Holly and Phil choose VIP lane
HOLLY Willoughby and Phillip Schofield have been lambasted for allegedly jumping the queue to see the Queen lying in state.
The presenters of ITV daytime show This Morning were seen on the camera feed on Friday morning after using press accreditation to ensure they didn’t have to wait for 13 hours to enter Westminster Hall, like former England footballer David Beckham did.
The backlash started on Friday evening after both Beckham and the pair’s ITV stablemate Susanna Reid refused to use queue-jump, choosing to wait their turn.
Furious fans accused Schofield, 60, and Willoughby, 41, of lacking in ‘common decency’ and said they should be ‘ashamed’ of themselves. Some were so cross they called for the pair to be sacked from their jobs on This Morning.
ITV yesterday insisted that they were there to report from the venue and that a segment of them there would be shown on this Tuesday’s programme – which will be broadcast after the Queen’s funeral.
The channel also confirmed that the pair filmed mourners queuing to pay their respects before and after they entered the VIP entrance – but at no point joined them. The channel said they didn’t file past the coffin but instead stood in the press pen, which is much further away, for 30 minutes.
Television insiders also voiced surprise at why This Morning would screen a report from the Queen’s lying-in-state at Westminster Hall a day after her funeral and burial takes place, making it old news by Tuesday.
ITV responded by saying that the pair – who have personal assistants and a big production team – failed to send their requests for accreditation in time to go any earlier.
A Twitter user wrote: ‘So Phil and Holly got a fast track to the coffin and didn’t have the common decency to queue along with many elderly or British citizens or even David Beckham. They should feel embarrassed and ashamed, it’s not Alton Towers.’ Another said: ‘Holly and Phil. Hang your heads in shame. Totally disgusted in you ‘queue jumping’ no excuse for it whatsoever.’
The hashtag #thismourning was also trending on Twitter, as well as Schofield’s advert slogan ‘We buy any car.com’ being changed to ‘we jump any queue.com’.
Beckham was praised for arriving to join the queue at 2am on Friday morning and waiting almost 14 hours before he was able to pay his respects to the Queen. Reid, 51, who is the host of Good Morning Britain, waited seven hours with her mother on Thursday.
An ITV spokeswoman said: ‘This Morning had press accreditation and like other media, Phillip and Holly were escorted to work from the press gallery by government staff. They did not file past the Queen’s coffin.
‘They were there alongside a host of other broadcasters and national press outlets for an item that will be broadcast on Tuesday’s show. Any allegations of improper behaviour are categorically untrue.’