Kerry Katona has claimed that This Morning is “fake” and “all bulls***” as she discussed Phillip Schofield’s departure from the ITV daytime show.
One week after he left the show amid a reported feud with co-host Holly Willoughby, Schofield admitted on Friday (26 May) to lying about having an affair with a younger colleague.
ITV has now ordered an independent review into Schofield’s departure, as more former contributors and guests claim there was a “toxic” environment on This Morning.
You can follow The Independent’s live blog for updates here.
Appearing on GB News on Wednesday (31 May) evening, former Atomic Kitten star Katona was asked about an infamous 2008 interview she had with Schofield on This Morning.
In the interview, Schofield tells Katona that her speech is “a bit slurred”, saying that he was “merely pointing out someone who is very different from a few years ago”.
Speaking to Dan Wootton, Katona said that she’d been taking medication for her bipolar disorder which was causing her to slur her words.
“The audacity [of] being condescending, belittling to people with real issues on the sofa who have real issues. Who are they to give him the right for an opinion and tell them what’s right or wrong?”
Admitting that she was shaking while speaking about the subject, she said: “People don’t understand what that interview did to me emotionally… When I did that interview, I was at rock bottom. Dan, you’d have thought I’d murdered somebody.”
During the 2008 interview, Schofield asked Katona: “Your speech is a bit slurred, how are you feeling right now? Our phone is already going off up in the gallery from people asking is she ok.”
“Even now when I go back to ITV, which hasn’t been very often… there is a sense of snobbery and I get looked down on [like] I’m not good enough. Every time I go back I tense up thinking I’ve got to impress them – I’ve got to watch my speech, I can’t slur – and it [gives me] such anxiety.”
Katona stressed that she wasn’t there to “jump on the bandwagon and pull Phillip Schofield down”, saying that the pair had “kissed and made up” years later.
“My stomach turns every time I think about Phillip and the scrutiny he’s going through,” she said. “I don’t wish this on anybody… I’m not here to go, ‘Ha ha, karma’s a b**** and it bites hard.’ I’m not here for that.”
However, she said that This Morning was a “fake” and “phoney” show.
“Us as a society, we look at them two (Schofield and Willoughby), thinking this is how we’re supposed to be. We’re supposed to be all prime and proper and ‘life’s amazing’... and ‘my life’s great, I’ve been married for 30 years’. It’s all bulls***. That isn’t real life. I’m real life.”
The Independent has contacted ITV for comment.
