Eamonn Holmes has weighed in with his response to Holly Willoughby's This Morning return. The former host of the ITV daytime show has been more than vocal with his thoughts on the scandal involving his ex-colleague Phillip Schofield.
Phillip, 61, quit the programme before later stepping back from ITV altogether after admitting to lying to his co-host and friend Holly as well as his employers about a secret relationship with a much younger ITV colleague.
While discussing Phillip's bombshell interviews, which took play with The Sun and the BBC last week, with his co-anchor Isabel Webster and showbiz reporter Ellie Phillips on GB News on Monday (June 5), Eamonn blasted the "lies" admitted to by his former co-star.
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"Like everybody else, he lied to me," the 63-year-old said before addressing scenes on This Morning in 2020 which saw Phillip come out as gay live on the programme. "I was happy to stand by him until I found out that he was lying... This isn't about him being gay, not in the slightest," he added.
He also took aim at Holly ahead of her return to This Morning, which saw her issue an emotional statement, putting in a scathing dig: "You think she's got a big mouth? She won't be using it today."
However, Holly did address the elephant in the room as the mum-of-three addressed the scandal involving her ex-pal head-on in a statement read out live on air.
She started by addressing her former colleague and friend by name before not mentioning him again. Holly said: "Firstly, are you OK? I hope so. It feels very strange indeed sitting here without Phil. And I imagine that you might have been feeling a lot like I have – shaken, troubled, let down, worried for the wellbeing of people on all sides of what’s been going on, and full of questions."
Dressed in a sleeveless white buttoned dress, Holly continued: "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. I think what unites us all now is a desire to heal, for the health and wellbeing of everyone."
Appearing alongside Josie Gibson, she shared a hug with her latest co-host who said they'll carry on as a 'family' before cracking on with the show as usual.
Eamonn and Isabel have since discussed the statement on their GB News Breakfast show. "The star of the show yesterday, for me, was Josie Gibson. It's lovely to hear a West Country accent, isn't it?" Eamonn commented.
"Absolutely, so warm and there aren't enough West County accents on the TV," Isabel agreed. It comes after This Morning viewers reacted to Holly's statement while others turned their attention to Josie and claimed they felt 'sorry' for her.
@MadameMinge tweeted: "I think all the viewers can agree on one thing; Poor Josie… #thismorning." @DebsGlynm commented: "Poor Josie, being dragged into this s**t storm… #ThisMorning." @leeleeCThomas added: "Josie should be allowed to step up as a full time presenter. I feel bad they’ve dragged her into this because she deserves better. It’ll be interesting to see how other presenters are around Holly #ThisMorning."
Others, however, were quick to praise the new pairing. @johnlennonsboot said: "Statement aside...I genuinely love the Holly/Josie pairing. There. I've said it #thismorning." @jaynees64 shared: "Good to see #holly back on #thismorning and with #josie what a fab combination. Please keep it."
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