Amanda Holden has condemned “utter rubbish” claims of a “rift” with Holly Willoughby.
The Britain’s Got Talent judge shared a statement after seemingly poking fun at Willoughby’s speech about Phillip Schofield, made upon her return to This Morning on Monday (5 June).
In the monologue at the start of the show, Willoughby asked viewers: “Firstly, are you OK? I hope so.”
After the speech was branded “patronising” by viewers, Holden shared a video, in which she began: “Hello, it is Tuesday. Are you OK?”
Following this, The Sun reported that the pair were embroiled in a feud, but Holden has denied such claims, calling them “made up” and “utter rubbish”.
“The story in The Sun today about Holly and I is completely made up, full of contradictions and just utter rubbish,” she wrote on Instagram, adding: “Sadly this means every other paper will now write it too. So I have to put this up for a few hours to try and add perspective and truth.
“Sadly strong and intelligent women have for far too long been pitted against one another when we should all be celebrated in our own right. What a surprise the article is written by a MAN.”
Holden continued by saying that a “rift” with Willoughby “simply does not exist”.
“There have been some huge assumptions made this week and everyone has feasted on them. These type of articles need to stop. The language around women (in most pieces I read every day) is laughable. It’s so different to how men are written about. Women are still expected to say nothing, suffer silently and just get on with it. And we do… mostly.
“These stories are there just to distract us from the actual news.. We are becoming a world which is gradually being eroded of all its best qualities – humour, backbone and truth.”
Holden was previously rumoured to have been “feuding” with Schofield for some years, dating back to the time they presented This Morning together in 2014.
In 2019, Schofield responded to claims that he had blocked Holden from securing several high-profile presenting roles. A report alleged that Schofield branded the Britain’s Got Talent judge “difficult to manage”, and that he “actively campaigned” for Rochelle Humes to get the gig as his stand-in co-host despite Holden being told the job was hers.
