Fans of This Morning have continued to share their feelings about Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield's 'queue jump' saga. It is almost a week since the hosting duo were seen inside Westminster Hall where the Queen was lying in state.
Hundred of thousands of people queued for miles for up to 14 hours to pay their final respects to Queen Elizabeth II following her death at Balmoral, aged 96, on September 8. For four days members of the public filed past her coffin before she was laid to rest in a state funeral on Monday.
And fans of Holly and Phillip claimed the pair had skipped past the thousands queuing after they were spotting inside Westminster Hall. Holly, 41, looked emotional as she tied her long blonde locks back with a black scrunchie and wore a matching black mask.
READ MORE: ITV This Morning viewers express concern for Holly Willoughby as she breaks show tradition
Phillip was seen walking behind her in a smart black suit and tie for the visit, with the presenter sporting a sombre look on his face. On Saturday, This Morning hit back at the claims that their presenters skipped the queue, which at its peak reached a 14 hours wait.
Then, during their return to the ITV daytime programme on Tuesday, Holly addressed the outrage in a video documenting the events of the last couple of weeks, from dinging out the Queen had died right up until the late monarch's funeral.
During the VT, Holly could be heard saying in a voiceover as footage showed them outside Westminster Hall: "Like hundreds of accredited broadcasters and journalists, we were given official permission to access the hall. It was strictly for the purpose of reporting on the event for millions of people in the UK who haven't been able to visit Westminster in person.
"The rules were that we would be quickly escorted around the edges to a platform at the back. In contrast, those paying respects walked along a carpeted area beside the coffin and were given time to pause." She continued: "None of the broadcasters and journalists there took anyone's place in the queue and no one filed passed the Queen. We, of course, respected those rules, however, we realise that it may have looked like something else and therefore totally understand the reaction."
But This Morning viewers haven't quite let it go and a petition to see the pair 'axed' from the show has hit a milestone. At the time of writing, more than 55,000 people had signed the Change.org petition with a new target of 75,000 signatures set.
The Manchester Evening News has contacted ITV for comment. This is almost up four times the amount of people who had signed the petition prior to Holly, 41, and Phillip, 60, returning to air.
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