There has been plenty of drama on and off the telly in recent weeks, as the scandal at This Morning, triggered by Phillip Schofield ’s departure last month, rages on.
The 61-year-old’s retirement from the ITV daytime show unexpectedly led to a bombshell statement in which Phil admitted to an affair with a young male production assistant, which prompted calls for an investigation.
This Morning has since been branded “toxic” and accusations have been thrown at Phil and his former co-host Holly Willoughby over their behaviour, leaving the veteran TV star to admit he had been struggling with his mental health since the fallout.
Now, ITV’s director of policy Magnus Brooke has been grilled over the alleged “toxic environment” on the show during a committee questioning by MPs, leaving the future of the show in doubt.
Here, we look at the biggest feuds between the ITV daytime celebs…
Piers Morgan v Denise Welch
The former Good Morning Britain host has had a long-running feud with Loose Women panellist Denise, which began when they went head-to-head on social media during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Piers accused Denise of being a “dumb, deluded and dangerous Covid-denier" as they argued over the efficacy of the life-saving vaccine, and they butted heads over the journalist’s constant criticism of Meghan Markle, including a comment he made about her mental health, prompting Denise to call him “an a***hole”.
He reignited their feud recently by calling Denise a “vile, spiteful hypocrite” after Phil quit This Morning, as he launched into a tirade against ITV in his column for The Sun.
"I met a lot of good, decent people when I worked in that environment, and took some of them with me when I joined TalkTV. But there are more than a few I would now cross continents to avoid,” he fired.
“Or the likes of Loose Women’s Denise Welch, a vile, spiteful hypocrite who makes a fortune from preaching about the need to ‘be kind’ but likes nothing better than spewing hateful foul-mouthed abuse at people on Twitter,” Piers fumed.
Eamonn Holmes v Phillip Schofield
This famous long-running feud began on This Morning, and it’s reportedly one of the reasons Eamonn left his post as co-presenter on the ITV daytime show.
He and wife Ruth Langsford were replaced by ITV bosses in a big shake-up of the show in 2021, and the following year he made a series of claims about Phil in an interview in which he called him “passive-aggressive”.
Accusing the TV presenter of “snubbing people”., he also briefly spoke about Phil and Ruth’s rift, and said: “It’s up to Ruth to say how she felt, but I was feeling hurt for her.”
He also addressed Phil and Holly’s apparent queue-jumping at the lying in state of Queen Elizabeth II, and said in a tirade on GB News: ““I’ll tell you what’s strategic. Why is Holly fighting to keep her job, according to The Sun, but Mr Phillip isn’t?”
Since news of Phil’s exit broke, Eamonn has been vocal about his dislike for the TV star, and has criticised ITV for the way it handled the scandal.
“Those in authority had to know what was going on and they thought they would dodge a bullet with this. With Schofield talking about those who speak out against him– namely me, Amanda Holden, Dr Ranj as well. You simply sit there and think ‘No mate, you’ve had it all your way for too long’,” he said.
Holly Willoughby v Amanda Holden
The Britain’s Got Talent judge is no stranger to feuds with This Morning hosts, as she’s had a bitter fallout with Phillip Schofield in recent years.
But Amanda stoked the fires of another feud recently, but this time, her attention was turned on Phil’s co-host Holly.
After the 42-year-old made an emotional statement regarding the scandal on This Morning on Monday, Amanda took to Instagram to seemingly poke fun at Holly.
“Hello, it is Tuesday. Are you OK?" she said in the Instagram video, referencing Holly asking This Morning viewers how they were feeling as she began her statement.
And on her Heart Radio show, the mum-of-two had another pop at the TV star, when she asked co-host Jamie Theakston: “I’m ok people, are you?”
While Amanda’s rep denied any wrongdoing and that the video had been taken out of context, some fans were disappointed that more beloved daytime presenters were embroiled in yet another bitter feud.
