A This Morning special, thanks to the show that keeps on giving for all the wrong reasons… Yesterday it was announced after twenty years, and not a minute too soon, ‘loveable Phil’ was quitting the show as ratings fell through the floor and ITV appeared to demand action. Penelope Teeth casts her opinion over the goings on at Television Centre…
BROTHER BANGED UP
Phillip Schofield’s brother has been jailed for twelve years after he was found guilty of sexually abusing a boy. Timothy Schofield was found guilty in April of eleven sexual offences involving a child between 2016 and 2019. Following the verdict, the 54-year-old was sacked from his job as a civilian worker for Avon and Somerset Police. Phillip Schofield said after the conviction: “As far as I am concerned, I no longer have a brother.”‘
Schofield was convicted of three counts of causing a child to watch sexual activity and three of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child. He was further convicted of three counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity and two of sexual activity with a child.
ANOTHER NAME ADDED TO THE LIST
There seems to be a rather long queue of people gathering, sadly not one Phillip can jump this time, wanting to air their encounters with the former Going Live! host who is now going, going gone from This Morning.
Previously Dan Wootton, Ruth Langsford, Eamonn Holmes, Amanda Holden and Fern Britton have all noted ‘run-ins’ with Phillip either coming out with full-blown statements or indirect hinting and this past week speaking to GB News former Loose Woman Carol McGiffin has shared her views.
The Mirror noted, ‘Recalling one time she appeared on This Morning to promote her book, Carol said that Phillip was rude to her, and she couldn’t quite believe how he treated her while they were live on air.’
She told the TV station, “Phillip was there but he wasn’t very nice, to be honest. He treated me as though it’s like ‘oh another Loose Woman with another book’ and I kind of get that but it was just like he was so not interested that it was a struggle. I was giggling and laughing actually because I couldn’t believe he was being so bloody rude.”
Another regular on the show Louise Van Der Velde, a relationship expert, waded in saying “My outlook has always been, whenever I am on, to be respectful to people and you kind of expect the same treatment back. With Phil, he is like this monster of daytime TV. He is rude, people have to sit still and speak when they are spoken to – it’s just a very aggressive attitude”
Speaking to GB News she added, “No matter how nice I have been, he has been arrogant. He is all nice and all smiles for the camera and jolly but frankly he is fake and it’s time he got the boot.”
HUNG OUT TO DRY
Phillip Schofield reportedly feels like he’s been ‘hung out to dry’ the Metro Paper reported. They observed, ‘The 61-year-old presenter announced this weekend that he has already hosted his final show with Holly Willoughby, 41, and is leaving the daytime programme with ‘immediate effect.’ His exit follows weeks of speculation that the duo’s friendship has ‘dwindled’, with rumours rife that a fallout means their bond is no longer as strong as it was.’ The paper adds, ‘Now, it’s claimed Phil – who presented This Morning for 20 years – has told friends ITV has ‘hung him out to dry’.’
ITV was forced to take action, but only once it started to seemingly affect their ad revenue when This Morning started to lose viewers in droves. Over 170,000 turned off over the days Schofield and Willoughby presented the series. Phillip was originally drafted in to replace John Leslie when he was falsely accused of rape. He co-hosted with Fern Britton until she quit in 2009, apparently having had enough of the silver fox.
ITS ME OR HIM..
Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby will never work together again, according to insiders reported The Birmingham Mail. The newspaper notes that Willoughby, who has allegedly not been too pleased that Phil hasn’t kept her up to date with his family scandal, gave ITV bosses an ultimatum ‘he goes, or I go’. And so, he’s gone.
An ‘insider’ at ITV Daytime, which has been home to a number of toxic incidents over the past few years, from ‘rigged’ phone-in competitions on GMTV to Loose Women‘s attempted hatchet job on Kim Woodburn, the abrasive shouty Jeremy Kyle Show and This Morning’s ‘queue jumping’ row last year, told The Sun:
“The tense atmosphere backstage has been completely unworkable and toxic so bosses had to step in and make a decision for the sake of the cast, crew and future of the show. Phil was fully planning on seeing out his contract with a stoic, “grin-and-bear-it attitude” and thought he could navigate the rough waters… But bosses were worried they might lose their golden girl Holly so decided to pull the plug on Phil. He was devastated,”
Phillip’s problem appears to be he thinks, probably due to lots of ‘yes men’ at ITV, he’s some sort of Johnathan Dimbley when he’s more midnight presenter on QVC, in my humble opinion.
IN THE SHADE
Amanda Holden and Eamonn Holmes both appeared to make not-so-subtle jibes at Phillip following his departure from This Morning. Holden, who said she was ‘banned’ from co-hosting This Morning by Phillip a couple of years ago, posted an image of ‘a celebratory bicep emoji’. The Britain’s Got Talent judge didn’t caption the post, her followers felt it was clear that it was intended as a form of shade thrown at Schofield.
Also on social media former This Morning co-host Eamonn Holmes noted, after posting a family snap, that a kiss from his granddaughter had “rounded off what turned out to be a good day.” Earlier in the week he said on GB News that Willoughby and Schofield should have won an award at BAFTA for best actors.