ITV’s chiefs have backed Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield claiming the pair won’t be sacked after they were accused of jumping the queue for the Queen’s lying-in-state.
Network boss Dame Carolyn McCall said the pair did nothing wrong and were “of course” safe in their jobs presenting This Morning.
The pair have been targeted on social media over claims they jumped the public line to pay their respects in Westminster Hall earlier this month.
READ MORE: M&S issues statement about Holly Willoughby’s future with brand after queue-gate
Calls for them to be sacked have followed with a petition gaining more than 70,000 signatures.
Speaking at the RTS London Convention, Dame Carolyn added that the reaction in the press and on social media showed “how misinformation just spreads, and it is really horrible for them.”
(Image: ITV)
She said: “I don’t think they’re feeling great. I mean, it’s hard.
“Imagine yourself in the eye of a storm like this, where you’re trying to say you’ve done nothing wrong, and all the noise around you is saying that you have. It’s difficult to handle.”
Programme bosses have stressed the hosting duo attended as members of the media to film a segment for the following Tuesday’s show.
“They did have accreditation. Lots of people saying they didn’t. They were sent by This Morning to do a piece for September 20, which ran.” Carolyn added.
She also claimed the pair had been misrepresented.
“They were to interview people inside and outside. They didn’t displace anyone in the queue. And they’ve been very misrepresented, actually.
“And that’s why we made a statement. Unusually, we made a statement to say all of those things. But it does show you how things spread and how misinformation just spreads. And it is really horrible for them.”
Dame Carolyn dismissed the idea they had been “cancelled” before adding: “I think they’re highly relevant and still very topical, and I think the majority of their viewers love watching them.
“But there is a very shrill kind of voice against and it will hurt them.”
Dame Carolyn said she had complained to Domino’s Pizza, who had tweeted a satirical post about the pair skipping a queue to order one of their pizzas.
She said: “We just said to them, ‘What are you doing?’ because we work with Domino’s and they said, ‘We think it is really funny, don’t you?’”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
