This Morning host Phillip Schofield has broken his social media silence for the first time his ongoing Queue-Gate controversy with beleaguered co-host Holly Willoughby.
The TV presenter, 60, posted a happy snap on Instagram on Thursday alongside TV personalities Gok Wan and Gino D’Acampo on set in the ITV studio.
“Love these guys,” Phillip gushed in the caption.
READ MORE: Holly Willoughby ‘called in lawyers’ after ‘damaging’ queue-jumping backlash
He also kept it light by sharing a photo of sunflowers – however he appeared to be anticipating some backlash as he has disabled comments on the post.
Phillip and Holly came under major scrutiny after they appeared to skip the hours-long line when visiting the Queen lying in state earlier this month.
The duo aired a clip on their regular morning show explaining that they were there only in a professional capacity to film a segment of the show, and that they did not skip the line.
The plea failed to convince viewers though, with an online petition to have the duo fired from their lucrative presenting roles hitting more than 66,000 signatures in six days.
Yet amid the backlash the pair have been receiving support from the hosts of Friday’s show, Alison and Dermot O’Leary, with reports surfacing that they have been “in regular touch” with the pair all this week.
Holly returned to social media for the first time since the scandal last week but only to congratulate her friend and This Morning fashion presenter Lisa Snowdon for winning Celebrity MasterChef.
Holly has been relying on support from her friends to get her through the past few days, with fans becoming “concerned’ after she appeared to look like she had been crying.
Phil and Holly are reportedly paid as much as £600,000 for presenting the daytime show from Mondays to Thursdays, with Alison and Dermot filling in for Friday’s show.
ITV chief executive Carolyn McCall defended the network’s morning show anchors, saying they did “nothing wrong.”
“Well, honestly, nothing [wrong]. Honestly. They did have accreditation. Lots of people saying they didn’t.
“They were sent by This Morning to do a piece for September 20th, which ran. They were to interview people inside and outside. They didn’t displace anyone in the queue,” she said.
She went on to add that they been “misrepresented” and went on to ass that this whole ordeal has been “really horrible for them.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
