Vanessa Feltz has admitted she's devastated about Phillip Schofield's sensational exit from This Morning and affair confession.
The broadcaster, 61, frequently appears on the flagship ITV show as she heaped praise on the 'beautiful' and 'sweet' Holly Willoughby. Vanessa defended This Morning and rubbished the 'toxic' claims brought to light by Dr Ranj Singh and Eamonn Holmes.
Speaking to OK! Magazine, Vanessa 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 love the programme, the content, the fashion, the cooking.
“Every time I appear on it, which is twice a week for years, I always find myself watching the next item. I’ve always been a fan of it, so it’s lovely to be on a show that you love and enjoy.” She finished up by saying she'd be "very very sad" if This Morning ever came to an end.
Since Phillip's departure, former This Morning contributors have spoken out about the 'toxic' work environment on the show as Vanessa rubbished the claims. “I’ve never seen anything toxic in my life – and that’s the truth!” she said.
“I’ve never seen, heard anything! Anything other than just nice people being nice. I’m not just saying that. I would tell the truth. Even last week, or the week before, I didn’t see anything.
"It’s come as a big shock to me and I think to lots of contributors. People who say, ‘Everyone knew’ – it’s not true. It’s absolute rubbish!”
During the scandal, Holly has faced a lot of criticism online following claims that she 'knew' about the affair - which she has denied in statements - as well as backlash from her insincere statements. Now Vanessa has spoken out to defend her pal, as she described her as "absolutely delightful".
“She’s a really nice, good-natured, kind, sweet person. She really is,” she told the publication. “For example, all of this was going on, and then Rolf Harris died. I was asked about the fact he sexually assaulted me live on TV, and so I told the story again.
"And then I got a message from Holly just saying, ‘Are you OK? It must be really hard for you to talk about it. Are you alright?’, ‘Of course I’m fine. You know it was a long time ago. In fact, I was even fine at the time – I was married with two kids, I wasn’t a child, I was perfectly able to deal with it. More to the point, how are you?’"
Vanessa continued: “She bothered – with all this going on – to message me. "She definitely didn’t have to – there was no need for her to. That’s just an example of her.
"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.”
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