Kim Woodburn has said that Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield should have been fired from This Morning over “queuegate”.
The Celebrity Big Brother star, 80, shared her thoughts on the drama during a recent appearance on the Not My Bagg podcast.
Last year, the ITV presenters found themselves in the middle of a scandal – dubbed “queuegate” – after they were accused of “jumping the queue” to see the Queen’s coffin lying-in-state before her funeral.
Both Schofield and Willoughby denied the accusations, stating that they would “never jump a queue”.
ITV supported the pair, claiming that they were “there in a professional capacity as part of the world’s media to report on the event”.
Speaking about the incident, Woodburn told hosts Joe and George Baggs: “They were not asked to cover the Queen’s funeral.
“They sneaked in and they put these imitation press things they got, they sneaked in because they wouldn’t stand in a queue, they are far too high and mighty. It is true.”
She continued: “Don’t listen to another word they say. They were not contracted, they were not allowed to film, nobody was, so they did sneak in. They should have lost their jobs. I’m disgusted. You did it, you too. I don’t want to look at you two – you make me sick.”
The Independent has contacted a representative of ITV for comment.
Following ITV’s defence of the presenting pair, new reports emerged that Willoughby and Schofield’s names were not on the accreditation list in the first place.
A source told The Mail on Sunday that members of the production team’s names were used instead.
“When they got there, their names weren’t on the list so there were some discussions and – after some back and forth – Phil and Holly were given access and they were ushered through,” they said.
Responding to the reports, ITV told the publication that they would not give out the personal contact details of on-screen talent to the Palace of Westminster authorities.
The email addresses of programme editor Martin Frizell and another member of the production staff, who accompanied them, were used instead.
Members of the public started a petition demanding that Schofield and Willoughby be fired from ITV. The online petition reached 71,000 signatures.
