Vanessa Feltz has accused formerThis Morning stars of having a grudge against the show while staunchly defending broadcaster ITV.
In recent weeks, several celebrities, including Eamonn Holmes, have issued searing attacks against the daytime series, accusing the channel of a “cover up”. The show is also facing several allegations of a “toxic” work environment on the programme,
The accusations have arrived in the wake of the Phillip Schofield scandal, in which the presenter quit the series and then admitted to lying about an affair with a younger male colleague.
On Tuesday (6 June), Feltz addressed the response, telling her TalkTV viewers: “It has been suggested that quite a lot of the people who are very vocally critical of This Morning and, actually, it’s a handful of people – there are some celebrities, a couple of journalists – and what’s been suggested is quite a lot of them were once on the programme and aren’t on it anymore.”
She added: “And that is the reason for this aggrieved, kind of grudging malice that is coming out. And if you ask people who are still on the programme and who are on it regularly – who enjoy being on it – they won’t know what they’re talking about.”
Feltz, who has appeared on This Morning as a guest contributer since 1992, continued to defend ITV while discussing This Morning editor’s Martin Frizell response to Sky News when asked about the allegations.
Frizell was asked by Sky News about the “toxic” work environment on the show, and eplied: “I’ll tell you what’s toxic, and I’ve always found it toxic – aubergine. Do you like aubergine? Do you? Do you like aubergine, because I don’t like aubergine. It’s just a personal thing.”
On Tuesday, an ITV boss called Frizell’s comments “extremely ill-judged”. Asking viewers to send in their views on his “aubergine” comments, Feltz said: “Do you think they feel misplaced? Maybe he was just exhausted and had been fielding these sorts of questions for so long he decided to say something frivolous instead of trying to answer the hournalist who doorstopped him.”
Feltz, who said that alleged “toxicity” on the show was “news to me”, also ran through the large quantity of people who work on the “enormous” This Morning, adding: “Where in all of that is someone going to be toxic to someone else? I can't really see it happening or really imagine it."
Her guest, journalist Ellie Phillips, countered:"It's a very high-pressured working environment and some people deal with that differently. We don’t know ths ins and outs of it yet.”
Other former This Morning stars to have criticised the series include the show’s former resident doctor, Ranj Singh.
ITV, whose bosses will be questioned by MPs following the Schofield scandal, has denied claims of a “cover up” as well as Singh’s claims of “toxicity” behind-the-scenes.
Chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall said: ”We are fully committed to providing every opportunity for anyone who works with us to raise any concern or comments they may have.
“Following a complaint made by Dr Ranj, we appointed an external and independent advisor to carry out a review. This external review found no evidence of bullying or discrimination.
“I want to reassure you that as a producer and broadcaster, ITV takes its responsibilities around duty of care and speaking up seriously and has robust and well-established processes in place which allow anyone who works with us to raise concerns they may have anonymously.
“The confidential reporting number and other ways of raising concerns are promoted via a number of channels, which includes ITV’s internal staff website, across ITV buildings, and how to speak up is part of ITV’s code of ethics and conduct annual mandatory training for all staff.”
