Phillip Schofield 's This Morning pals have reportedly 'rallied round' the presenter after Eamonn Holmes made digs at him.
Last month, 62-year-old Eamonn Holmes - who left ITV for GB News - took aim at his former co-host and called him 'passive aggressive'.
The star called out his fellow presenter for cutting wife Ruth short in the middle of a trailer for Loose Women on This Morning in 2019.
"I only had about three more words to say," a hurt-looking Ruth said. Eamonn stated that "Phillip is renowned for snubbing people" and he was "hurt" by the awkward incident.
And now, sources have claimed that Phillip's ITV pals have been defending him, especially co-presenter Holly Willoughby.
"Phil's This Morning family are rallying around him after the comments, none more so than Holly," the source told new magazine.
"Holly knows she owes a lot to Phil and she'll always be grateful for the way he took her under his wing when she first joined This Morning and how he fought for her to be his co-presenter on the show.
"It's no secret that there is no love lost between Phil and Eamonn, but Holly felt she had to defend her 'work husband' after all the support he's shown her over the years," they said.
The source also added that Holly thought Eamonn's comment were 'very below the belt.'
Mirror have contacted Phillip and Holly's reps for comment.
Eamonn had sat down with Daily Mail's Weekend magazine to discuss leaving ITV for GB News and how he felt about his former workplace.
Speaking on Phillip, he said: "He's very passive-aggressive. It's up to Ruth to say how she felt, but I was feeling hurt for her," he confessed. No one would have snubbed me like that."
The GB News star passionately added: "I have a good Belfast street fighter in me… I would be direct. I don't go for presenters who think they have a special privilege or aura or influence."
Before joining GB News, Eamonn co-hosted the Friday instalment of This Morning for 15 years alongside his wife Ruth Langsford, 61.
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They were replaced by Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary last year. He now presents the breakfast show at GB News with his new co-host Isabe Webster.
Eamonn also claimed ITV made it look like he wanted to leave ITV when he had in fact been dropped.
"They're sly. They didn't want to announce that I'd been dropped because it would adversely affect audience figures, so they made it look as if I'd walked away from them rather than the other way round," the journalist sensationally revealed.
A spokesperson for ITV told the Mirror: "This isn't a version of events that we recognise and as we have said before we wish Eamonn all of the very best."
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