Rumours of a rift between Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield have been circulating for a few years now.
Despite the This Morning besties previously claiming everything is fine, things seemed to come a head this week.
Holly is said to have been ‘blindsided’ when Phil issued a statement on their friendship following claims the pair are ‘barely speaking’ when the cameras stop rolling.
Describing Holly as his ‘rock’, the 61-year-old TV presenter still called her his ‘best friend’ saying: “She is an incredible support 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.”
But it has emerged Holly had no idea Phil was going to speak publicly about their rumoured rift and is said to be ‘deeply upset’ by it.
While she is yet to respond to the fresh claims, here are all the things she has previously said about Phil.
Back in 2019 their working relationship is said to have become ‘strained’ with reports Phil was ‘jealous’ Holly had replaced Ant McPartlin on the 2018 series of I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here.
It was claimed Phil had banned Holly from speaking about her other successful shows on This Morning and that he wasn’t happy a photo spread in a weekend newspaper had focused on Holly and not him.
Tensions were also said to have increased when Holly allegedly banned Phillip from posting videos of her drinking alcohol on his social media - and apparently asked her management company to break the news.
At the time ITV was forced to issue a statement, describing reports of a feud as ‘malicious gossip’.
Finally addressing the rumours in 2021, Holly told pal Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast that she couldn’t deal with people having the wrong idea.
She said: “I was watching from afar when you’ve got every person in the press saying that you and Phillip are having a tough time. Meanwhile, you’re great friends and there were no arguments.
“That was a particularly difficult time. But I remember having a conversation with Phil and it was like, ‘But we know.”
Holly added: “I have to believe that, as long as you know inside, and you know the truth - you know your truth – then everything is ok.”
Phil has also denied any rumours of a rift and referenced how much of a support Holly was to him when he came out as gay in 2020.
He told Chris Evan’s How to Wow podcast: “There was no and there has never been a feud with Holly.
“When they’re writing ‘Phillip and Holly feud’, we couldn’t have been closer because I’d told her my secret and she was holding me together at work.”
In a chat with Grazia magazine in 2022, Holly again spoke out on the alleged feud rumours – saying they couldn’t do their jobs if they weren’t friends.
She said: “It’s two and a half hours of live telly. if you were to do that amount of live telly with someone who drove you nuts, wound you up, annoyed you in any way... I think you can only do that with a friend, day in, day out.”
Speaking on The Jonathan Ross Show, Holly professed her ‘love’ for Phillip and again blasted the rift rumours as untrue.
“It hurts sometimes because it’s so unfair and untrue... I do really love him,” Holly said.
Asked if there was any truth to the rumours she would leave This Morning, Holly said at the time she ‘never thinks like that’.
She shared: “The show changes so much and I think that’s the beauty of This Morning.
“Recently, it’s had the highest ratings it’s had in 15 years. It’s doing really well, which is extraordinary for a show that’s been around for as long as it has. "
In the past Holly has insisted she would leave This Morning if her co-host Phil ever quit the show
She said: “If he left This Morning... we’ve always said from the beginning that if either of us left then we wouldn’t want to do it, as I can’t imagine This Morning without Phil. It’s us together.”
But a source told The Sun this week that Holly may now have had a change of heart and would be prepared to present the morning show solo.
“Holly adores This Morning and for the first time in 14 years she has made it clear that should Phil ever leave she would want to stay,” the insider said.
The Mirror has reached out to Holly and Phil's reps for further comment on this story.
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