This Morning presenter Holly Willoughby has reportedly been left in the dark by her co-star and close friend Phillip Schofield who chose to release a public statement about their friendship following rumours of a feud in recent weeks.
Phillip broke his silence on claims the pair are no longer as close as they were following years of a close friendship, with the pair fronting shows including This Morning and Dancing On Ice.
The pair have continued to put on a united front at work each morning on ITV screens but rumours have suggested the close pals' friendship has become strained.
However, Phillip shut down suggestions of a feud and described Holly as his "rock" during some of the most stressful times in his life.
But, it's now emerged Holly had no idea her co-host was planning on releasing a statement and saw her friend's kind words for the first time when it was published online, according to reports.
Sources close to Holly claim she is "deeply upset" over allegedly being kept in the dark over Phillip's brother Timothy facing child sex offences charges and found out about the trial when her co-star took time off This Morning.
Timothy was found guilty of the charges and will be sentenced next week.
Holly presented This Morning without Phillip prior to the Easter break with Friday presenter Alison Hammond stepping in.
"Holly had to find out from someone else which must have been awful for her. She has been so loyal to him," the source told The Mail. "It has been upsetting for her, they have been pretty inseparable for 14 years. They have been through so much together, some happy and some really tough. But now their once super close friendship is no longer."
It's also been reported that Holly is now considering a TV future without Phillip as she takes advice from those close to her on how to move forward in her career.
Friends of Holly are urging her to ditch Phillip and slammed his statement as a "betrayal", according to reports.
One told MailOnline: "The statement came out of nowhere for Holly and it was upsetting. What a betrayal. It feels like he Phil is looking after himself here, with no regard for her."
In a statement to The Sun, Phillip shut down any suggestion that his friendship with Holly has suffered in recent weeks.
He said: "The last few weeks haven't been easy for either of us. My family went through a real ordeal. And Holly's support throughout meant the world to me, as did the support of my bosses at ITV, my editor Martin Frizell and the whole This Morning family, including our amazing viewers."
Mirror has contacted a representative for Holly and Phillip for comment.
On Friday, This Morning made a change to the ITV show amid Holly and Phillip's reported "feud".
With Alison and Dermot O'Leary presenting, as normal, they promoted what was coming up next week on the programme, including the 12 At 12 competition, which sees Phil and Holly, usually with the help of Josie Gibson, help their viewers win up to £12,000 in cash.
Viewers were asked to register their interest in entering the competition this week ahead of it happening next week, but unlike other weeks, where Holly and Phil appeared in the promotional video, there was no sign of them.
Meanwhile, eagle-eyed fans noticed 42-year-old Holly has seemingly wiped Phillip from her social media in recent weeks.
In her Twitter bio she had previously written: "I was introduced to this by a Twitter legend," before tagging her presenting partner.
Her Twitter bio now reads: "Broadcaster, Founder of Wyldemoon, Brand ambassador for Marks & Spencer and Garnier, Author of Reflections” - something that didn't slip past her and Phil's viewers.
Last year, Holly and Phil told The Mirror that they feel "at ease" with one another, as they addressed their working relationship.
Holly said: "They're different shows and that's what's nice about it. There's a real ease when we work together. It's not like you're going in like, oh we need to find our feet or rhythm, it's an absolute given. It's nice to be doing something a bit different but still together."
Phil agreed, as he called Holly his "best mate", adding: "The lovely thing is, I get to spend even more time with my best mate. It's lovely and I adore Holly completely and absolutely and so to be able to joke around together, it's great."
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