Good Morning Britain's Ben Shephard has weighed in with his thoughts on Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield after the This Morning pair faced a challenging few weeks. Earlier this month the ITV daytime show won an award during the National Television Awards.
As This Morning was announced as the winner for the Daytime category, a stunned Phillip put his head in his hands and appeared to hold back tears. Holly looked equally as surprised and pleased as she immediately hug her co-star and off-screen 'bestie'. The programme and its stars, also including Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary, saw off competition from Loose Women, The Chase and The Repair Shop to take home the gong for the fifth year in a row.
However, it was reported Holly and Phillip faced a disgruntled crowd with reports of boos as they went to collect This Morning's latest piece of silverware. While their fellow TV stars applauded it has been reported that the crowd around them audibly booed - and it was picked up by viewers watching the glitzy event live on ITV. Scott Bryan, a TV critic and broadcaster, tweeted: "A source at the ceremony says that there were some boos in the room when This Morning won an #NTAs, but boos stopped during the speech."
It came soon after the pair faced criticism over the past couple of weeks following claims they skipped the queue for the Queen’s lying in state. Tens of thousands of people signed a petition to see the pair replaced as hosts of This Morning, despite ITV issuing a statement to deny the pair 'jumped the queue' and Holly later addressing their position in a VT on the show.
Speaking to OK! at this year's Pride of Britain Awards on Monday (October 24), Ben, 47, admitted he was "aware" of the backlash that his fellow ITV day-time hosts have faced since allegations of cutting the queue to see the Queen's coffin following her death on September 9.
"Of course I'm aware of what's going on with the public," the GMB star told the publication. "But I genuinely believe we're [ITV] a stronger team together right now." The Tipping Point later heaped praise onto his fellow ITV day-time hosts. "I love Holly and Phil and I think they do an incredible job. I'm very proud to call them my friends. I look up to them enormously with what they do on a daily basis, and how they do it."
Ben also had a lot of good things to say about his co-star and friend of more than 20 years, Kate Garraway. Last month, Kate thanked her husband for his “incredible fighting spirit” as she won the authored documentary prize at the National Television Awards for a second consecutive year. Kate and the family won for their second film, Caring for Derek.
It highlighted the work of families and the care service for those who have suffered like Derek has. The former political advisor is believed to be the worst-affected living Covid patient in the UK after spending 13 months in hospital between March 2020 and April 2021 after contracting the virus.
Ahead of her appearance at the NTAs, Kate, 55, shared how Derek was back in hospital after saying he is still "damaged" from the effects of the virus. "She is a superhero," Ben told OK! "What she’s managing to do and how she’s managing to hold the family together, and do everything she can to help Derek and her children, is incredible.
"We share texts quite regularly and she’ll tell me about the crazy things that are going on in her life. Darcey [her 16-year-old daughter] has just done her GCSEs and how Kate’s holding down a job and keeping the family afloat is miraculous."
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