News

Holly Willoughby delivers honest and emotional statement addressing Phillip Schofield scandal on This Morning return

An emotional Holly held back tears as you read out a lengthy statement.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 5th June 2023

Holly Willoughby has officially addressed the ongoing Phillip Schofield scandal on her return to This Morning on Monday.

Making her first appearance since the pair both dropped off the show following Schofield’s admission that he had a relationship with a younger man who worked on the show, his former co-presenter jumped straight into the issue at the top of the show.

“Firstly, are you OK? I hope so. It feels very strange sitting here without Phil and I know that you might be feeling a lot like I have: shaken, troubled, let down, worried for the wellbeing on all sides of what’s been going on, and have lots of questions.

“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 they had to resign from ITV and step down from a career they loved. That is a lot to process and it’s equally hard to see the toll that has taken on their own mental health.”

Holly Willoughby’s opening statement on her This Morning return.

The 42-year-old went on to say, “I think what unites us all now is a desire to heal for the health and wellbeing of everyone. I hope that as 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.

ADVERTISEMENT

“From my heart, can I just say thank you for all your kind messages and thank you for being here this morning. Myself, Josie, Dermot, Alison, Craig and everyone who works on this show will continue to work hard every single day to bring you the show that we love.”

Stand-in host Josie Gibson then hugged Holly and said: “All we can do now is be the family that we are”.

ADVERTISEMENT

Read more:

After making it through the statement, Holly and Josie then jumped back into the regularly scheduled programming as usual.

As for the scandal itself, Schofield recently gave an exclusive interview with the BBC admitting that his “career is over” and had “suicidal thoughts” after the story broke, as well as insisting that he hasn’t spoken with Holly since apart from sending her an apology via text following his own statement.

The 61-year-old continues to deny allegations that he groomed the man he maintained a relationship with for a number of years but ITV has stated that they are continuing to investigate the situation following his resignation.

ADVERTISEMENT

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Image — ITV