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ITV daytime stalwart Phillip Schofield has stepped down as presenter of This Morning after days of intense hypothesis over his relationship with co-host Holly Willoughby.
In a press release launched on Saturday, the 61-year-old said he understood ITV had decided “the current situation cannot go on”.
Willoughby herself launched a brief assertion, in which she said the sofa would not be the same without him.
The specter of a This Morning departure has felt imminent since rumours began swirling of a rift between the celebrities.
The pair was agency buddies, with their households even taking annual holidays collectively.
Sky Information takes a take a look at how their working relationship began and the place the cracks began to indicate.
The current alleged rift
17 April 2023: The primary present after the Easter break ought to have seen each hosts again on the sofa after Schofield took go away whereas his brother was on trial for baby sexual offences.
However whereas Schofield thanked followers for his or her assist as he returned to This Morning for the primary time since his paedophile brother was convicted, Willoughby was absent.
She introduced she can be away from the show for per week as she was in poor health with shingles.
Following his brother’s conviction, Schofield branded the crimes “despicable” and mentioned: “So far as I’m involved, I now not have a brother.”
10 Could: The Solar reported Schofield and Willoughby have been “barely talking”. The newspaper cited “insiders” who claimed their relationship had “cooled” and points had “rumbled for a while”.
12 Could: Amid swirling rumours in regards to the pair’s cooling relationship, Schofield hailed Willoughby as his “rock” whereas admitting “the previous few weeks have not been simple for both of us”.
In a press release, Schofield told the paper: “As I’ve mentioned earlier than, Holly is my rock. We’re the very best of buddies – as all the time, she is an unbelievable assist on display, behind the scenes and on the telephone.
“Holly has all the time been there for me, by thick and skinny. And I have been there for her.”
15 Could: As rumours continued, the 2 have been seen collectively on This Morning final week.
Viewers have been involved in regards to the two as they continued to debate headlines however didn’t handle the continuing “feud.”
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The co-hosts’ previous relationship
2006: The pair first work collectively on ITV’s Dancing On Ice.
2009: Willoughby joins ITV’s This Morning, changing Fern Britton. In his memoir, Schofield pinpointed a row between the co-hosts over the content material of a present because the catalyst for Britton’s departure.
2011: Willoughby leaves Dancing On Ice and begins presenting The Voice, then on BBC1.
2017: Willoughby reportedly negotiates a pay rise to match Schofield’s wage of £600,000. She was reportedly on round £400,000 earlier than that.
2018: Willoughby returns to Dancing On Ice.
2020: Schofield comes out as gay after 27 years of marriage.
This Morning co-hosts on the day Phillip Schofield got here out on the programme
Willoughby interviews him about it on This Morning, telling him: “I shall be by your facet perpetually.”
She additionally posts {a photograph} of the 2 of them on Instagram, and writes: “By no means been extra pleased with my good friend than I’m right now.”
2022: The pair face accusations of queue jumping at the late Queen’s lying in state. Greater than 37,000 individuals signed a petition for them to be axed from This Morning.
Addressing the backlash, the hosts insist they have been solely there in a journalistic capability and adopted the foundations set for media.
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