Vanessa Feltz has spoken out in Holly Willoughby's defence for the first time following the Phillip Schofield scandal that has engulfed his former co-star and friend as well as This Morning.
Last week, the presenter made a tearful return to the ITV daytime show after she took a fortnight off of hosting duties after extending her pre-planned half-term break following the announcement that her former co-star had quit This Morning due to their rumoured fallout behind the scenes 'becoming the story'.
However, he later stepped back from ITV altogether after admitting to lying to Holly and his employers about a relationship with a much younger ITV colleague. And during her return to screens on June 5, mum-of-three Holly addressed the scandal head on in a statement read out live on air as she was supported by her new co-host Josie Gibson.
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Weeks after the shock news broke, Vanessa has confirmed she is feeling “very sorry for anyone who’s been hurt” in the aftermath of the fallout at This Morning and has also defended “beautiful and sweet” Holly, 42.
In an interview with OK! Magazine, the This Morning regular, 61, has said she is "absolutely devastated" following the controversy surrounding former This Morning presenter Phillip, also 61. She said: "I’m absolutely devastated on behalf of everyone. I’ve always been good friends with Holly and Phil, I’ve been on that show for years and years.
"I just feel very sorry for anybody who’s been hurt or implicated in what’s happened. I hope the show will continue." She added: "I'd be very, very sad if the show were to come to an end. I think it would be a shame and I also don’t think it would be necessary to do that."
Then leaping to her "absolutely delightful" colleague Holly’s defence, Vanessa said: "She’s a really nice, good-natured, kind, sweet person. She really is."
She added: “She’s beautiful and sweet, which means people want her not to be that in real life. I know her in real life, I know her socially, and I’m friendly with lots of friends of hers. I'm very honoured to call her a friend of mine and she is exactly as you might imagine, but in the nicest way. She’s really a kind person."
The comments came before Holly revealed her new co-host on This Morning. Taking to Instagram before Monday's show (June 12), the mum-of-three looked gorgeous in a floral dress from high street chain New Look as she gave her millions of followers her usual glimpse at her outfit of choice for the programme.
Confirming who'd be presenting alongside her after both Josie and Craig Doyle helped her last week, Holly wrote: "Morning Monday… see you at 10am on @thismorning with the lovely @dermotoleary Also so happy to welcome back @jamesmartinchef to the kitchen today…"
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