Holly Willoughby vows to ‘never talk about Phillip Schofield again’ as she struggles to come to terms with the crisis
Holly Willoughby said she wants to 'get back to a place of warmth and magic' without Phillip Schofield
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Holly Willoughby wants to never again talk about Phillip Schofield's departure from This Morning, it has been claimed.
Breaking her silence on the Schofield affair yesterday after a head clearing holiday in Portugal, Willoughby told the public she felt let down by Schofield’s lies over the tryst with a young show runner.
Despite pockets of the public raising an eyebrow at the theatrics of the ongoing media circus, sources close to the presenter stressed the gravitas with which Holly approached the public statement.
An insider told The Sun: “This is the only time Holly will ever speak about Phil and what has happened.
Holly Willoughby returned to the This Morning sofa yesterday
ITV“She still feels incredibly angry and upset by his actions and is very much still trying to get her head around it.
“It took a lot for Holly to compose herself and speak about what has gone on in the last few weeks.
“But people expecting her to sit and pour her heart out will be waiting for a long time.
“Holly is upset that Phil, who she believed to be a very close friend, lied to her about his affair."
The pair presented This Morning together for over a decade
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They added: “She is angry and that will take a long time for her to come to terms with.”
In what might well be the only time she addresses the controversy surrounding her former co-host, Willoughby said: “It feels very strange sitting here without Phil and I imagine you might be feeling a lot like I have — shaken, troubled, let down, worried for the well-being of people on all sides of what’s been going on, and full of questions.
“You, me and all of us at This Morning gave our love and support to someone who was not telling the truth, who acted in a way that they themselves felt that they had to resign from ITV and step down from a career that they loved. That is a lot to process.
“And it’s equally hard to see the toll that it’s taken on their own mental health."
Phillip Schofield described affair as "unwise but not illegal"PA / ITVShe added: “I think what unites us all now is a desire to heal for the health and well-being of everyone.
“I hope that as we start this new chapter and get back to a place of warmth and magic that this show holds for all of us, we can find strength in each other.”
Speaking on GB News, the Mail on Sunday Editor-at-Large Charlotte Griffiths took aim at Willoughby’s remarks, saying they were reminiscent of a typical Meghan Markle comment.
She told Mark Longhurst: “When she said, ‘but firstly, how are you doing?’ I just thought it was straight out of that Meghan Markle playbook. You know, ‘are you OK?’"
Jonathan Shalit, the chairman of the showbiz agency, Intertalent, told GB News that Schofield could still turn things around.
He said: “The most important thing is that Phillip hasn't broken the law.
"Today is a very dark day and the last few weeks have been very tough for him.
"I do share some thoughts that what he is now receiving is completely disproportionate - he's been punished in a way that has really bashed his life beyond imagination, but he will pick himself up.
"I think the one thing he should hold onto is that time heals.
“Look at Jeremy Kyle, when that terrible thing happened on his show. He was out for a while and now he’s back working. People do come back.”