Phillip Schofield and Holly Willougby have been accused of making contradictary statements as their This Morning partnership came to an end. The former ITV presenter admitted last week that Holly never replied to his final text to her, as he spoke to her about the hurt he'd caused by his affair with a younger colleague, The Mirror reports.
In an emotional interview with the BBC, Phillip was quizzed on his friendship with Holly and whether she knew about what was going on. He was asked by interviewer Amol Rajan: "Did you ever tell Holly?"
Phillip replied: "No God no. I don't know whether Holly ever asked me, she might have done, but I would have denied it.
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"Holly did not know. Nobody knew." However, Holly previously released a statement where she said she had asked Phil and he had denied the rumours to her. She wrote: "It's taken time to process yesterday's news.
"When reports of this relationship first surfaced, I asked Phil directly if this was true and was told it was not. It's been very hurtful to now find out that this was a lie."
Fans following the furore at ITV daytime pointed out the contradiction in Phillip's statement to Holly's. ITV also revealed they had investigated allegations of an affair between its lead presenter and a runner and found the suggestion did not go more than 'rumours' after quizzing staff.
Holly returned to her usual This Morning slot on Monday after taking a two week break. She appeared alongside Josie Gibson who offered her support as she gave an opening statement about the Phillip controversy.
Holly wore all white as she addressed the scandal and read out a statement. She started by asking viewers if they were okay before saying it felt "very strange indeed" being there without Phillip.
The mum-of-three said that she felt "shaken", "troubled" and "let down" by her former friend, saying she had given "love and support to someone who was not telling the truth".
"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," Holly said.
"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.
"I hope that we start this new chapter and get back to a place of warmth and magic that this show holds for all of us, we can find strength in each other."
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