Phillip Schofield may make his last appearance on ITV in ten days time and could be ‘eased out’ despite promises of a new primetime show – in the same way Jeremy Kyle left the broadcaster, experts claimed today.
The broadcaster, 61, currently with his mother in Cornwall, is presenting The British Soap Awards on June 3.
When he announced his departure from This Morning on Saturday, ITV boss Kevin Lygo revealed Phil would front the live soap awards in Manchester for a 13th successive year plus a ‘brand new peaktime series’.
One insider, who works closely with ITV, told The Times: ‘I’d be extremely surprised if we see him on the channel after the Soap Awards. They may make a pilot episode to honour their agreement, but the expectation is he’ll be eased out.’ The same source said claimed similar promises were made to Jeremy Kyle after the suicide of a guest on his talk show – but never materialised.
One talent agent claims that This Morning editor Martin Frizzell, who previously ran Good Morning Britain, will make Holly Willoughby the main star of the show – mirroring Susanna Reid’s role on GMB.
Dermot O’Leary, Alison Hammond, Rylan Clark and Josie Gibson are expected to support her. ‘It will mirror the Good Morning Britain approach after Piers Morgan. Holly will be the Susanna Reid of the situation, the star the others revolve around,’ the agent said.
Moving swiftly on! Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary paid a 30 second tribute to Phillip Schofield on This Morning after he was axed… but some fans questioned the brevity of the announcement
Tension: The TV presenter, 61, bowed out of the show following reports of a feud with his co-host Holly Willoughby. Holly will be the show’s main star without him, experts have claimed
Former This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield is said to be ‘completely broken’ by his brutal ITV axing (pictured with his mother, Pat, on Sunday)
Yesterday ex-This Morning host Eamonn Holmes criticised Phillip Schofield for claiming he left the job on his own accord, declaring: ‘He was sacked.’
On the GB News breakfast show, when co-host Isabel Webster said Schofield was ‘stepping down’, Holmes said: ‘Oh, please just stop this. He was sacked. All this nonsense of ‘I’ve decided to step down’. I’m sure you did – here’s your P45, now step down.’
He went on to mimic presenter Holly Willoughby and said: ‘And she says, ‘Oh, the couch will not be the same without him being there’. Well, she wanted him not there. So what is she moaning about? They deserve each other, I suppose.’
Holmes, pictured below, added: ‘Holly is being as false as he is and nobody is talking about the elephant in the room.
‘She says, ‘I thank him for all his knowledge, experience and humour’. All the things that she didn’t have when she came to the show.
‘Well, it’s true! I would call that stabbing in the back.’
It came as Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary presented This Morning yesterday, with Ms Willoughby taking an early holiday after Schofield quit the show.
The pair paid tribute to Schofield as they opened the first show since his dramatic departure.
Beginning the broadcast, Ms Hammond said: ‘We can’t start today’s show without paying tribute to the man who spent the last two decades sitting on the This Morning sofa – Phillip Schofield.’
O’Leary added: ‘So as a show, everyone on and off screen at ITV and This Morning say a huge thank you to Phil for what he’s done to make the show such a success over the last 21 years.’
Schofield, 61, was dealt an ultimatum after Ms Willoughby, 42, told ITV bosses that she no longer wanted to work with him.
He was told on Friday that his contract – which is due to end this summer – will not be renewed.
Schofield fled 300 miles to Cornwall to visit his mother, where he was pictured looked tired during tense phone conversations while sitting in a car for two hours.
He will reportedly receive six months’ wages – more than £300,000 – to soften the blow of his departure. Ms Willoughby will return on June 5, after the half-term break, and will co-host with members of the This Morning team.
Who could replace Phillip Schofield on This Morning, according to bookmakers
Holly and Phil have enjoyed support from inside and outside ITV in recent weeks
Eamonn Holmes raged at Holly and Phil
ITV has yet to confirm Schofield’s permanent replacement. Schofield and Ms Willoughby, who also present Saturday night show Dancing On Ice together, have co-hosted the programme since 2009.
But reports of tension between the two came to a head after he failed to tell her about his brother Timothy’s trial for child-sex offences.
‘It was basically an ultimatum, and Holly won the war,’ a source told the Mail. ‘We say what Holly wants, Holly gets and never was a truer word spoken.’
Phillip Schofield, who will present next month’s British Soap Awards on ITV, made no mention of his former colleague and friend in a statement made after his departure was announced. He said: ‘I understand that ITV has decided the current situation can’t go on, and I want to do what I can to protect the show that I love.
‘So I have agreed to step down from This Morning with immediate effect, in the hope that the show can move forward to a bright future.
‘I’d like to thank everyone who has supported me – especially This Morning’s amazing viewers.’ Ms Willoughby thanked Schofield for sharing ‘all of his knowledge, his experience and his humour’ with her.
She reportedly has the full support of This Morning editor Martin Frizell, who is keen to pair her with Ms Hammond.
In a poll of Mail+ readers, when asked who they wanted to see on the This Morning sofa this week, 75 per cent of the 5,569 who took part chose the option: ‘None, I’m sick to the back teeth of the lot of them.’
