If you turned on the TV at all this week, chances are the headlines were dominated by one thing: Phillip Schofield’s dramatic departure from ITV breakfast show This Morning.
For those who missed it, here’s what’s been whipping the internet into a frenzy over the past week: in late May, Schofield was found to have been covering up a relationship he had been conducting with a young man working on the show.
“I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning,” he wrote in a statement after resigning from This Morning. “That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over.”
Schofield has now stepped down from all of his presenting roles, including at the British Soap Awards and ITV as a whole.
Among the fracas, one voice in particular has risen above the din: Eamonn Holmes, one-time presenter for This Morning, who has been criticising both Schofield and ITV’s handling of the scandal – and dropping new bombshells about what might have been going on behind the scenes.
But who is Eamonn Holmes – and why does he have so much to say? We break it down.
Who is Eamonn Holmes?
Born in 1959, Holmes is a Northern Irish broadcaster and journalist who joined This Morning all the way back in 2006 as one of its presenters, hosting the Friday show alongside his wife and co-presenter Ruth Langsford, as well as covering the summer break for the hosts.
He left in 2021, and has since gone onto work for GB News (more on that later).
Holmes has a history of controversy: in 2011, Holmes described singer Jonathan Wilkes as “retarded” on air, for which he later apologised.
More recently, he refused to deny that the use of 5G masts had helped lead to the Covid-19 pandemic, saying he didn’t “accept mainstream media immediately slapping it down.”
Ofcom received hundreds of complaints about the incident and later commented: "In our view, Eamonn Holmes’ ambiguous comments were ill-judged and risked undermining viewers’ trust in advice from public authorities and scientific evidence.”
They also issued ITV with guidelines around its coverage of the pandemic, and Holmes has since said that his words were misinterpreted.
What’s he been saying?
After news broke about Phillip Schofield’s departure from ITV and the reasons behind it, Holmes took to Twitter to share his views on the scandal, writing that he and Ruth had been “deceived and lied to... we had no issue with him being Gay, only support. What transpired took us for fools . The man told us complete lies and we unfortunately believed him.”
He also took aim at ITV, alleging that “Schofield has finally been caught out ... But he’s not the only guilty party. 4 high members of Itv management knew what sort of man he was ...and NEVER once took action to prevent him controlling or taking advantage of his position over young people.” There have been no reports suggesting Schofield engaged in improper behaviour with any other young people.
In a more recent GB News interview with Dan Wootton, Holmes called the situation “a total cover-up” and added, “those in authority had to know what was going on and they thought they would dodge a bullet with this.”
He also spoke about the unnamed young man at the centre of the scandal, saying, “Ruth and I particularly looked after him, he never once talked to us about any relationship, but we knew he was in a bad way and he was in a bad way… there’s an incredible duty of care that needs to go towards that young man."
He went onto add that Langsford was still in contact with the young man.
Holmes also addressed allegations of “toxicity” on the set of This Morning, which have been made by several ex-This Morning employees, including Dr Ranj Singh – and prompted a denial from Schofield.
“This Morning IS the best show to work on, with the best people. In all the years I worked there there was no toxicity,” Schofield wrote on Instagram. “It IS a family of wonderful, talented, kind and hardworking people.”
However, Holmes hit back, calling the statement “nonsense.”
“Holy God, what planet does this man live on?” he said. “He created an atmosphere where people hated him.
“People would avoid him in the corridor. He didn’t look at anybody, didn’t know anybody’s name.
“Holly doesn’t know people’s names either. This is legendary within the production team, how distant they are, and how they just don’t care.”
What has ITV said?
Since the news of the scandal broke, ITV has said that it had investigated rumours of a potential relationship involving Schofield in 2020, but that Schofield had denied it.
“ITV can confirm that when rumours of a relationship between Phillip Schofield and an employee of ITV first began to circulate in early 2020 ITV investigated,” said a spokesperson.
“Both parties were questioned and both categorically and repeatedly denied the rumours as did Phillip’s then agency YMU.
“In addition, ITV spoke to a number of people who worked on This Morning and were not provided with, and did not find, any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour.
“Phillip’s statement yesterday reveals that he lied to people at ITV, from senior management to fellow presenters, to YMU, to the media and to others over this relationship.”
Holly Willoughby has also spoken about the incident, writing on Instagram that "it’s taken time to process yesterday’s news. When reports of this relationship first surfaced, I asked Phil directly if this was true and was told it was not.
"It’s been very hurtful to now find out that this was a lie. Holly." She is currently due to return to presenting This Morning on June 5.
When did Holmes leave This Morning and why?
Holmes left This Morning alongside Langsford in 2021 when his contract came to an end.
The news was announced in November 2020, and the pair were replaced by Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond. Beforehand, Holmes had found himself facing fierce criticism over his comments about Covid-19 and 5G masts, and the pair were reportedly upset by their dismissal.
Last year, Holmes told the Daily Mirror that if the scandal was his reason for leaving, “it’s never been mentioned to me.
“If that was the case, at least that would be a reason. And if Dame EasyJet [Dame Carolyn McCall, the Chief Executive of ITV] had wanted an apology or some sort of explanation, fine. But she never picked up the phone and asked me,” he said.
“I’ve never had any communication with Dame Carolyn McCall. And I still stand by those remarks because not once did I say 5G spreads coronavirus. I said that as reporters, we should always question the narrative. And that has never been more obvious than under the No10 regime that has existed from then and beyond.”
Has he said anything before about his co-stars before?
Holmes joined This Morning a mere four years after Schofield, and their working relationship seems to have been uneventful up until 2019, when Langsford reportedly filed a complaint against Schofield after being cut off by him while presenting a segment on This Morning.
After that, things appear to have soured between the Schofield and Holmes camps: in February 2022, Holmes told the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine that “Phillip is renowned for snubbing people. He’s very passive-aggressive. It’s up to Ruth to say how she felt, but I was feeling hurt for her. No one would have snubbed me like that.”
“I don’t go for presenters who think they have a special privilege or aura or influence,” he added.
After he departed for GB News, Holmes became more outspokenly critical of Schofield and co-presenter Willoughby – most especially when the pair came under fire for jumping the queue to view the Queen’s lying in state.
“I’ll tell you what’s strategic,” Holmes said on his TV show. “Why is Holly fighting to keep her job, according to The Sun, but Mr Phillip isn’t?”
In May this year, he also took aim at the pair’s relationship after claims of it being strained were denied by Schofield. “The public surely will suss that there’s no chemistry, that it’s a broken fit between the two of them and that This Morning does not depend on who presents it."
