FOR 14 years, they were the best friends of friends and TV brother and sister. Today, they no longer speak.
Now, Phillip Schofield has apologised to his This Morning co-star Holly Willoughby for lying to her about his secret relationship — and for tainting her public image.
6
6
6
In an interview with The Sun, he says the pair have broken all contact — and reveals it was his paedophile brother’s imprisonment that made her distance herself from the friendship.
He says: “I’ve lost my best friend. I let her down (Holly). I let that entire show down. I let the viewers down.
“Holly did not know (about the romance). And she was one of the first texts that I sent, to say, ‘I am so, so sorry that I lied to you’.
“She didn’t reply and I understand why she didn’t reply, as well. So yeah. If anyone is in any way linking Holly to this; that is absolutely, wholly untrue.
“I had no feud with Holly. She is my TV sister. But quite rightly, when I am in the middle of a s**t show with bad press over something where I have done nothing wrong — in fact, I did everything right — it’s a witch hunt. And that strips that (friendship) away.
“Quite rightly, she is going to take a step back and think, ‘I have to step back from this’, and I understand that completely.
“As we see now, this is a vicious game and the last thing you want is for something to stick on you.
“It was becoming bigger than the people we had on the show. I understand that.”
Last month, The Sun revealed that the duo were “barely speaking”. Phillip admits this was the case but says he had no idea the news would be made public until it ran in this newspaper.
So, did the pair speak privately in the immediate aftermath?
He pauses before replying: “If you do this I want you to put these two bits together…
“I utterly adore Holly but we didn’t talk about this. I love Holly and I get it. That was a shock (to read). I texted her and said, ‘Have you heard about this?’. And she said, ‘Yeah, I think the story’s been killed, I think it’s gone, it’s not going to run’. But it did, the next day.
“The last time we had a conversation was when I texted Holly and said, ‘Don’t reply,’ — this was after the statement last week (defending This Morning from accusations of toxicity) — ‘Don’t reply, you’re probably not allowed to. But I am deeply, deeply sorry that I lied to you’.
“And I am. It was the one secret in our sanctuary that was never mentioned.” One long-running rumour Phillip, 61, is keen to address is the idea he insisted on first billing as in ‘Phil and Holly’, rather than ‘Holly and Phil’. He said: “By the way, I don’t care which way around that is…”
Phillip, who joined This Morning in 2002, remains passionately loyal to both the show and his former employees at ITV.
Read Related Also: Loretta Lynn Was Terrified the 1st Time She Used a Toilet With Running Water
But despite the furore over claims they jumped the queue to see the Queen lying in state last year, it was actually the conviction of his disgraced brother which drove them apart.
Holly, however, was one of the first people he confided in after Timothy had confessed to his abhorrent behaviour. She was at the time, he says, incredibly supportive: “She was with me holding my hand every step of the way.”
Yesterday, it emerged that ITV boss Carolyn McCall has been called to face MPs amid the ongoing This Morning furore.
She has been called to give evidence to a parliamentary committee to answer questions about the broadcaster’s approach to safeguarding and complaint-handling following Phillip’s resignation.
The chief executive will face questions from MPs on the This Morning row at the Culture, Media and Sport committee on June 14.
Phillip says he is mortified by the latest twist in the sorry saga — and takes full responsibility. In addition, he says he is no longer in contact with anyone from ITV and has not spoken to Caroline since he was pushed out.
“[News of the hearing] breaks my heart, he explains.
“No, I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to call her, or for ITV to call me. I know the process that this has to go through. So I understand. I completely understand that. I have no bitterness towards ITV in the slightest.”
He is adamant This Morning should not be axed in the wake of his deceit.
For the first time in our entire interview he becomes incredibly punchy when I mention he and Holly, 42, have been accused of arrogance on the show floor.
“How vile to say that we lorded it in that place,” he rages.
“It couldn’t be more of a level playing field, a level family. I adore those people.
“And I think to suggest anything otherwise is an agenda I don’t understand.
“I don’t book the guests. Neither of us have any say in who comes on or what.”
Tellingly, and sadly, Phillip repeatedly changes tense when discussing his old show. It is evident he cannot fathom a future without it, and without telly, full stop.
Ex-contributor Dr Ranj has hit out at the “toxicity” within This Morning. Phillip is quick to hit back. “There is no toxicity in that show,” he storms. “I walked in in the morning and went into the production room and sat down, we all had a chat about the weekend, or what we did the night before, and all having a laugh.
“Then I’d go into my dressing room and write up the script, then go into the sanctuary which is make-up, and have a chat with everyone in there.”
6
6
6
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;
n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,
document,’script’,’
fbq(‘init’, ‘752905198150451’);
fbq(‘track’, “PageView”);
