Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby: The alleged feud between the This Morning hosts explained

Phillip Schofield stepped down from ITV’s This Morning on Saturday, May 20. This announcement came after reports suggested that Phillip and This Morning co-host Holly Willoughby had a falling out.

Phillip was apparently allowed to stay on the show if he and Holly could convince the public their chemistry was still the same but alas, things didn’t work out and Phillip was ‘sacked’ as suggested by Eamonn Holmes.

But what really happened between Holly and Phillip, who seemed to have a great friendship? The duo were adored and renowned for their fits of giggles on live TV, one of the most iconic involved Gino D’Acampo. So let’s dive into this alleged feud between Holly and Phillip.

The tensions started to rise in 2022

It is believed that tensions between Willoughby and Schofield started after Queen Elizabeth’s death in September 2022. Indeed, the pair were given special permission as journalists to skip the 20-hour queue to see Queen Elizabeth’s lying in state.

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Despite the special permission, Holly and Phillip were scrutinised by the public as other celebrities, such as David Beckham, stood in line just like everyone else to pay their respects to the late monarch.

It can be understood that this kind of ‘hate’ from the public for a decision they made would then cause some tension within their friendship. Indeed, ITV's chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall explained that the scandal had affected the duo.

Phillip Schofield hid information from Holly Willoughby

The pair’s relationship allegedly really took a hit when Phillip Schofield’s brother was found guilty of sexually abusing a boy. According to the media, Schofield had not warned Holly that his brother was accused of abuse or that there was going to be a trial.

Due to his brother’s trial, Phillip took a break from presenting This Morning, but Holly stayed, which was surprising as the duo would always appear together and would go on holiday at the same time to ensure they would always present together.

As BBC reports, during that short break, Phillip was replaced by Alison Hammond, who got on well with Willoughby. So much so that fans were asking that the two be seen together more.

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Naturally, this sparked a lot more rumours about Willoughby and Schofield’s friendship.

Phillip Schofield blindsided Holly Willoughby

Amid the media reports about their alleged feud, Phillip Schofield released a statement on the matter, which had apparently ‘blindsided’ Willoughby.

The sentence that stuck out to everyone in Phillip’s statement was: ‘The last few weeks haven't been easy for either of us.’

Despite saying ‘Holly is my rock, we’re the best of friends’, the media used this to strengthen their claims about the duo’s feud. Surprisingly, Willoughby has not once acknowledged the supposed feud and has kept quiet.

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Lastly, Twitter fans noticed that Holly removed a reference to Phillip from her social media who had introduced her to the platform. For many, this is further ‘proof’ that Holly and Phillip are no longer friends.

Sources used:

BBC: ‘Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby: What went wrong for This Morning pair?’