“Good morning. How was your weekend?” These are the words that This Morning host Dermot O’Leary chose to open Monday’s episode (29 May) of the show with, in what many viewers have perceived as a nod to the furore over Phillip Schofield’s split from ITV.
O’Leary and Alison Hammond are co-hosting the flagship morning show on Monday (29 May). The pair have no doubt experienced an intense bank holiday weekend after Schofield confessed on Friday night (26 May) that he’d had an “unwise” but not “illegal” affair with a much younger colleague on the programme.
The news came shortly after he resigned from the talk show amid rumours of a feud with his co-host Holly Willoughby. He has now resigned from ITV altogether.
Read live updates on Schofield quitting the broadcaster here
Reacting to a video of O’Leary’s subtle reference to a chaotic weekend, shared on social media by TV critic and broadcaster Scott Bryan, one viewer wrote on Twitter: “It must be difficult knowing everyone is talking about your workplace.”
“Dermot reaching into Phillip Schofield’s soul there,” another added.
A third simply posted: “Awkward as f***.”
“Dermot looks a bit tired of it all,” speculated a fourth person, as a fifth tweeted: “Dermot looks as if he’d rather be anywhere else than that studio.”
Shortly after making the remark, O’Leary addressed the scandal directly, stating: “We happen to be in the news at the moment and of course we appreciate that, but just from both of us and the whole team here, the crew, the guys downstairs, we love making this show for all of you.”
Co-host Hammond added: “We really do and that’s exactly what we are going to do, we are going to continue to do that.”
Gyles Brandreth, who is in the studio to review the news stories of the day, said: “We are very happy to be here, can I say that as well?
“This is a happy place to work, I enjoy coming in here and have done since I began coming in. We are happy people in a happy place.”
Willoughby is currently on a half-term break from This Morning. She will be back on air on Monday 5 June.
