Eamonn Holmes has said Holly Willoughby should follow Phillip Schofield “out the door” of This Morning. Speaking on Dan Wootton’s GB News show in the wake of the scandal surrounding Phillip Schofield's departure from ITV and the claims of “toxicity”on the set, Eamonn said “Holly doesn’t know people’s names either".
Schofield, 61, resigned from ITV on Friday and was dropped by his talent agency YMU after admitting to an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a younger male colleague. The relationship took place while the TV star was still married to wife Stephanie Lowe and before he came out publicly.
Following Schofield’s resignation, the show has been plagued by allegations of “toxicity.” Holmes, who previously presented ITV’s flagship daytime show on Fridays with wife Ruth Langsford, said: “Not only should Phillip go, but Holly should follow him close out the door. I don’t think you will ever see Holly Willoughby back on the couch."
Willoughby is due to return to the show on Monday June 5 after the half-term break, having taken an early holiday when news of Schofield’s departure emerged.
Speaking on Dan Wootton’s GB News show on Monday morning, Holmes added: “There are people who say for her it’s not about what Phillip did, for her it’s not about protecting the young fellow involved or whatever.
“There are people who are financial experts who will say this is about brand protection with her. She’s got her company and she’s got advertising deals, which suspiciously looks like she’s trying to distance herself from Phillip to protect those.”
Willoughby has lucrative deals with Marks & Spencer and Garnier and has a lifestyle brand called Wylde Moon.
Representatives for Willoughby have been contacted for comment.
In an Instagram post earlier on Monday, Schofield hit back at his critics, saying there was “no toxicity” on This Morning. He added: “I hope you have noticed that it’s the same handful of people with a grudge against me or the show who seem to have the loudest voice.”
Referring to those comments, Holmes instead accused Schofield of “toxicity”.
“I think that Phillip is absolutely right about toxicity,” he said. "But, my friend, the toxicity is not with me, Dan Wootton, or anyone else. The toxicity is with you.” He said Schofield “created an atmosphere” on This Morning “where people hated him”.
He said: “This nonsense that he wrote today about toxicity, about how (This Morning) is a happy place or whatever, holy God, what planet does this man live on?
“He created an atmosphere where people hated him. People would avoid him in the corridor. He didn’t look at anybody, didn’t know anybody’s name.
“Holly doesn’t know people’s names either. This is legendary within the production team, how distant they are and how they just don’t care.”
Schofield has declined to comment on the claims following the interview on GB News.
When This Morning aired on Monday, hosts Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond and contributor Gyles Brandreth appeared to defend the show from the toxicity allegations.
O’Leary said: “We all know we happen to be in the news at the moment and of course we appreciate that, but just from both of us, the whole team here, the crew, the guys downstairs, we love making this show for all of you.”
Hammond added: “We really do and that’s exactly what we are going to do, we are going to continue to do that.”
Brandreth, who was in the studio to review the news stories of the day, said: “We are very happy to be here, can I say that as well?
“This is a happy place to work, I enjoy coming in here and have done since I began coming in. We are happy people in a happy place.”
READ NEXT:
