Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield ‘feud’ – queuegate, brother’s trial and ITV split

Phillip Schofield has been at the centre of countless feud rumours during his career – but until now Holly Willoughby has been one constant by his side.

In recent months, rumours that the This Morning duo’s friendship has thawed have been running wild, with the latest development suggesting Holly is ready to end their partnership.

The claims paint a very different picture from the moment in 2020 when Holly, 42, became emotional as she supported Phil, 61, through his coming out as gay on the ITV show.

READ MORE: Holly Willoughby ‘blindsided’ by Phillip Schofield as he says ‘it’s not been easy’

Now, according to various sources, things are frosty behind the scenes and viewers could be a matter of weeks away from seeing Schofe leave This Morning – while Holly has made it clear she plans to stay without him.

Here, Daily Star takes a look inside the fractured friendship at what has caused the tension.

Feud beginnings

Schofe has been linked to feuds involving the likes of Ruth Langsford, Fern Britton and Amanda Holden in the past, but over the years there has been little to suggest he and Holly were anything but a unit.

However back in 2020, Holly left the management team she shared with Phil, instead launching an all-female squad.

It wasn’t long before rumours of a fall-out between the pair emerged, however they both consistently denied anything was wrong.

In November 2021, Holly spoke of the rumours to pal Fearne Cotton on her Happy Place podcast and admitted it had been “difficult”.

She said: “It’s a funny one, isn’t it. Don’t get me wrong, like, it is difficult.

“That was a particularly difficult time. Of course. For many reasons.

“But I think, and I remember having this conversation with Phil at the time, it was like: ‘But we know’.”

She added: “I have to believe that, that as long as you know, inside, and you know the truth, you know your truth, then everything got to be ok. It has to be. And I have to hold on to that. I can’t start questioning that.”

Meanwhile, Phil said on Chris Evans’ How to Wow Podcast: “There was nothing that was being said that had any truth in it whatsoever. There was no and there has never been a feud with Holly.

“When they’re writing ‘Phillip and Holly and feud’ we couldn’t have been closer because I’d told her my secret and she was holding me together at work.”

Queuegate

The next few years rumbled on as normal, with whispers of tension but nothing more than that – until the Queen’s death caused a major scandal for the pair.

The duo were accused of jumping the queue to pay their respects, while the general public – and a number of famous faces including Susanna Reid – waited in line for hours.

A petition was launched to have them fired from This Morning, however they and ITV denied any wrongdoing, claiming they had been in the media line and done the same as many other journalists.

Phil showed no sign of wanting to apologise when pressed by GB News, with producer Ben Leo saying that This Morning didn’t film anything from inside Westminster.

Holly went on to address the backlash on This Morning, saying: “It was strictly for the purposes of reporting on the event for millions of people in the UK who haven’t been able to visit Westminster in person.

“The rules were we would be quickly escorted around the edges to a platform at the back.”

She also said: “We, of course, respected those rules, however, we realise it may have looked like something else.”

Months later, in January 2023, Schofe made a joke about Holly being “right at the front of the queue” to see a new film.

Viewers said at the time it appeared Phil had “dropped a right clanger” and they speculated Holly would be “tearing a strip off” him in the ad breaks.

Timothy Schofield trial

In March, Schofe was away from This Morning for two weeks as his brother Timothy was on trial for and subsequently convicted of child sex charges.

Police IT worker Timothy was convicted of 11 offences and is set to be sentenced on May 19.

According to Mail Online, Phil kept Holly in the dark about the trial and she was left “deeply upset” about learning of it from a third party.

Twitter snub

Holly has removed mention of Phil from her Twitter bio in recent weeks.

It previously said that she was “introduced to this by a Twitter legend”, implying Schofe, however it now lists her career achievements, saying: “Broadcaster, founder of Wyldemoon, brand ambassador for Marks & Spencer and Garnier, author of Reflections.”

It’s not clear when the mention of “legend” Schofe was removed, however it was in her bio as recently as February.

Schofe’s statement

This week, after weeks of rumours that their partnership could be coming to an end, Phil released a surprise statement to The Sun.

In it, he spoke of his friendship with Holly and admitted: “The last few weeks haven’t been easy for either of us.”

He described Holly as his “rock” and said they were the “best of friends” and that they had both been there for each other.

Phil mentioned Holly’s recent absence from This Morning too, when she was off sick with shingles.

A source told the publication that Phil “knows the relationship has been strained”, and it was a “desperate” act to release the statement.

Meanwhile, according to Mail Online, Holly was completely blindsided by the statement and had no idea about it until it was already published.

End of golden duo’s partnership

This Morning viewers have been speculating that Holly and Phil’s time on the show could be coming to an end – and they could be half right.

Claims emerged recently that Holly had told ITV bosses that she wants to stay on the show even if Phil steps away.

According to Mail Online, his contract will come to an end over the summer, and there’s the suggestion that it won’t be renewed.

It comes after reports This Morning editor Martin Frizell is “fed up of clearing up Schofield’s mess”, despite years of being a supporter of the presenter – including in the Queuegate mess.

He was reportedly seen in the ITV canteen with a “face like thunder” recently, rather than getting involved in the studio.

A source told the publication: “Martin and Phil were once so close, a real team. Martin is an old-fashioned television man who believes in loyalty but things have changed.”

While another source said Holly was becoming increasingly concerned that Phil’s scandals could start to affect her.

They told the Mail: “The fallout with Phillip has been going on for quite some time.

“For Holly there’s also a degree of her becoming concerned that some of the scandals connected to Phillip are damaging her reputation.”

She has reportedly been getting advice from her TV producer husband Dan Baldwin and ITV for the past few weeks.

The source added: “She can’t risk Phillip dragging her down.”

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk