It's been a remarkable week for Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, to say the least. The duo faced massive backlash after being accused of jumping the queue to see the Queen lying-in-state.
The outrage hasn't relented although the presenters of This Morning have denied the accusations. ITV has even clarified they were at Westminster Hall in a professional capacity - and didn't skip the queue.
Even so, a petition calling for Holly and Phil to be sacked has garnered more than 67,000 signatures. The drama began when a picture emerged last week that showed the pair waiting to film a segment for their daytime show.
The picture caused fury after it was compared to celebrities such as David Beckham, Susanna Reid and Tilda Swinton who had queued with the public to pay their respects to the monarch. However, unlike Holly and Phillip who were at Westminster Hall for work, other stars visited the Queen's coffin. in their free time.
The close friends shared an hour-long "emotional SOS phone call" after becoming "really worried" by the backlash they faced, as they spoke about how to handle the situation.
"Phil and Holly started to become really worried about the situation on Friday night. They spoke at length and decided they had to do something to protect themselves and the reputation of the show," a source told MailOnline.
As public outrage continued to grow, This Morning were forced to issue a strongly worded statement two days after the picture started circulating.
In an Instagram statement, the popular TV show wrote: "Hello everyone, we would like to clarify something. We asked Phillip and Holly to be part of a film for this Tuesday’s programme.
"They did not jump the queue, have VIP access or file past the Queen lying in state – but instead were there in a professional capacity as part of the world’s media to report on the event."
Holly and Phillip also addressed the backlash they have faced during Tuesday's episode of This Morning, as they insisted they would "never jump a queue".
Some people then started speculating that Holly was in "crisis talks" over her job, though an ITV source has confirmed that the mum-of-three will not leave her post.
"Holly will not quit. She has been devastated by all the negative reaction after she turned up to work at Westminster Hall with Phil on Friday, but she's not going to resign," an insider told The Sun.
They added: "This Morning has been her life for more than a decade and the only way she'd consider quitting at this stage is if viewers really didn't want her there.
"She's tried to give their side of the story on the show today and they're both hoping to move on from it now."
A tearful Holly was however forced to contact a lawyer over the false reports of her queue jumping. Sources told The Mirror she has decided not to engage a law firm full time.
At one point, Holly is thought to have come close to deleting her Instagram account, which has attracted hate-filled comments under a picture she posted of tributes her children had made for the Queen.
The TV personalities both took a break from social media after being subjected to intense trolling over the last few days, with Holly returning to Instagram this morning.
She took to her Instagram stories to congratulate close pal Lisa Snowdon on winning Celebrity MasterChef, although she has still not posted on her main page.
Behind-the-scenes, channel bosses are rallying around Holly and Phillip, as some viewers have threatened to boycott the programme.
A source told The Mirror: "There are huge, real and serious concerns over their wellbeing and ITV is fully supporting them behind the scenes in the face of such relentless trolling.
"The channel backs them 110 per cent."
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