On Air Now
Heart Breakfast with JK and Amanda Holden 6:30am - 10am
Amanda Holden calls for accountability as she denies Holly Willoughby 'feud'
8 June 2023, 11:13 | Updated: 8 June 2023, 11:44
Heart Breakfast's Amanda Holden has broken her silence on Holly Willoughby 'feud' claims.
Amanda Holden has set the record straight on reports of a rift between her and Holly Willoughby.
Rumours of a disagreement hit the headlines after Holly returned to the This Morning sofa this week and addressed Phillip Schofield’s affair with a younger colleague.
Taking to Instagram today, Heart Breakfast’s very own Amanda called for the ‘truth’ to finally be shared.
She wrote: "The story today about Holly and I is completely made up, full of contradictions and just utter rubbish.
"Sadly, strong and intelligent women have for far too long been pitted against one another when we should all be celebrated in our own right."
- Holly Willoughby vows to never talk about Phillip Schofield scandal again
- Holly Willoughby This Morning statement in full: What did she say about Phillip Schofield?
- Phillip Schofield: All the celebrities who have commented on This Morning scandal
She went on: "The 'rift' story now circulating as a result of this article - which I have woken up to this morning and was not checked for factual correctness - simply does not exist. There have been some huge assumptions made this week and everyone has feasted on them.
"These type of articles need to stop. The language around women (in most pieces I read every day) is laughable. It's so different to say how men are written about. Women are still expected to say and do nothing, suffer silently and just get on with it. And we do ... mostly.
"These stories are just there to distract us from the actual news. We are becoming a world which is gradually being eroded of all its best qualities - humour, backbone and truth."
Holly returned to This Morning after two weeks off following the departure of her co-star Phillip.
On Monday, she started the show with a statement where she addressed Phil's exit from the hit ITV show, his affair with a young runner and where their friendship stands now.
"Firstly, are you ok? I hope so. It feels very strange indeed sitting here without Phil…,” she started.
"I imagine you might have been feeling a lot like I have, shaken, troubled, let down, worried for the wellbeing of people on all sides of what's been going on, and full of questions..."
Holly Willoughby makes statement as she returns to This Morning
She went on: "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 who themselves felt that 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 it has taken on their own mental health.”
Phillip resigned from ITV last month and was dropped by his agency YMU after admitting having a relationship with a younger man who worked on the show.
In an interview with the BBC, Phillip said he has ‘lost everything’ and doesn’t see a future career for himself.
"I have to talk about television in the past tense, which breaks my heart... I have lost everything,” he said.
