A This Morning regular has opened up on the 'atmosphere' behind-the-scenes on the ITV daytime show following Phillip Schofield's exit. It was announced by ITV on Saturday (May 20) that after 20 years fronting the daytime show, the veteran presenter had made the decision to 'step back' from This Morning.
The shock news came after rumours were rife that he and co-host Holly Willoughby were 'barely speaking' behind the scenes amid a 'rift' between the pair. Phillip's exit was with 'immediate effect', meaning he appeared for the last time on the programme last Thursday (May 18).
Holly, who has hosted This Morning with Phillip since 2009 and also Dancing on Ice since 2006, said in response: "It’s been over 13 great years presenting This Morning with Phil and I want to take this opportunity to thank him for all of his knowledge, his experience and his humour. The sofa won’t feel the same without him."
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Following the news last weekend, Holly, who has been confirmed to be continuing as host, didn't appear back on the programme following her decision to take an extra week off work ahead of her pre-planned half-term break next week.
She will therefore return to the helm of the show on June 5 meaning other presenters are having to step in. Alison Hammond and her co-host Dermot O'Leary were drafted in to host and opening the first show of the week on Monday (May 24) Alison, 48, and Dermot, 49, appeared sombre as they addressed the news and paid tribute to their now-former colleague.
But speaking out on the situation behind the scenes, This Morning contributor Camilla Tominey – who suggested Alison was “nervous” and “comparatively inexperienced” dealing with the brief tribute made to Phillip – suggested the “atmosphere” on the programme was “understandably muted” as This Morning carried on without the TV star.
She wrote in a column: "Monday morning’s atmosphere was understandably muted. While we have grown used to the hugely likeable Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary standing in for Phil and Holly, who is now on half-term holiday until June 5, the finality of Schofield’s departure was impossible to ignore with a farewell at the beginning of the programme. Alison was clearly quite nervous as the task fell upon her comparatively inexperienced shoulders to pay tribute to her former co-star."
Writing for the Telegraph, the journalist also admitted some of those watching at home may have been confused by how the stand-in co-hosts swiftly moved on within moments of paying their tribute to Phillip. "Viewers could perhaps be forgiven for wondering why there wasn’t an Ant and Dec-style montage of his best bits, but this is television, folks,” Camilla wrote.
"Twenty one years on a show summarised in 35 seconds before moving on to the next feature. It’s brutal, but that’s the way it works because it’s the only way it can work. The viewers must always come first."
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