Phillip Schofield: All the celebrities who have commented on This Morning scandal

6 June 2023, 12:13 | Updated: 6 June 2023, 12:23

By Alice Dear

Everything Eamonn Holmes, Piers Morgan, Dr Ranj, Alison Hammond and more have said about the Phillip Schofield and This Morning scandal.

Phillip Schofield, 61, sensationally quit This Morning last month only days before he revealed to the world he had an affair with a younger member of the This Morning team.

Holly Willoughby's former co-star admitted in a statement that the relationship with the male runner was "unwise" but "not illegal".

Since then, Phillip has revealed he is struggling with the reality that his TV career is over after he admitted to lying to ITV, Holly and his management team about the affair.

Listen on Global Player: Spencer & Vogue. Spencer Matthews and Vogue Williams let you know what they’re doing, thinking, and disagreeing on every week.

Phillip's former TV colleagues as well as a handful of other celebrities have been weighing in on the scandal, from Eamonn Holmes to Alison Hammond and even actor Rupert Everett.

Phillip Schofield stepped down from his hosting role at This Morning last month. Picture: ITV

Eamonn Holmes

Eamonn Holmes, 63, has arguably been the most out-spoken about the Phillip Schofield scandal, talking candidly about his experience working on This Morning alongside Phillip and Holly.

The latest comments came after Phillip admitted that he is struggling with his mental health in a series of interviews.

Speaking in response to the emotional interviews, Eamonn said: "We're not supposed to criticise him in case he harms himself but he still thinks he can go on and say lies, lies, lies.

"He's admitted he is a liar. You should see the emails, the texts and the messages I've been sent over the past week. I think he's getting off very very lucky.

"Like everybody else he lied to me, I was happy to stand by him until I found out that he was lying... This isn't about him being gay, not in the slightest."

Eamonn Holmes has been candid in his thoughts about Phillip Schofield and his affair with a younger This Morning colleague . Picture: Shutterstock/ITV

Previously, Eamonn called Phillip a "chief narcissist".

"I've always had this belief that a lie unchallenged becomes the truth", Eamonn said speaking of claims of toxicity on This Morning: "So, although I don't want to stand up to Schofield constantly pointing out where he's lying, I feel I have to.

"I often say this to Ruth, maybe he believes all this stuff, maybe he did not see what went on actually because there's something wrong with him. But he is the chief narcissist, he is the complete and utter dyed-in-the-wool narcissist, everything is about him."

Holly Willoughby

Holly Willoughby, Phillip Schofield's former This Morning co-host, has had two weeks off amid the fallout but has released a number of statements regarding Phil's exit from the show and the admission of his affair.

In a statement released just hours after Phillip went public with his affair, Holly said she was upset to find out that she had been lied to by the colleague she once called a close friend.

Most recently, Holly returned to This Morning as she delivered a statement to the viewers where she expressed her sadness at the situation before adding well wishes to all parties involved.

Holly Willoughby makes statement as she returns to This Morning

Holly started by saying: "Firstly, are you ok? I hope so. It feels very strange indeed sitting here without Phil...

"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..."

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...

"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 to a place of warmth and magic that this show holds for all of us, we can show strength in each other."

Holly concluded by saying: "From my heart, can I say thank you for all of your kind messages and thank you for being here this morning. Myself, Josie, Dermot, Alison, Craig and every single person who works on this show will continue work hard every single day to bring you the show that we love."

Piers Morgan

Piers Morgan has been publicly supportive of Phillip Schofield, however, admitted that he thought his comments about Caroline Flack were "clumsy".

For context, over the weekend Phillip said in one of his interviews: "If my daughters hadn’t been there then I wouldn’t be here. And they’ve guarded me and won’t let me out of their sight, it’s like a weird numbness." He added: “I think I understand how Caroline Flack felt.”

Reacting to the fallout from the scandal, Piers said: “I have known him [Phillip] a long time, 35 years. I looked at the guy and thought: you are completely broken."

Piers did add that the “comparison to Caroline Flack was clumsy”, noting that Phillip “probably shouldn’t have said that”.

Piers Morgan has shown support for both Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby. Picture: Alamy

He went on: “Unless the young man comes out and contradicts Phillip Schofield’s version of event, or somebody else comes out with new revelations, what else do people want? Phillip Schofield is a broken guy, he’s not going to work on television again almost certainly.

“He’s lost everything in his life. I don’t know what more the baying mob on Twitter wants from Phillip Schofield that he hasn’t already lost?”

Alison Hammond

Alison Hammond, who stepped in to host This Morning alongside Dermot O'Leary across the past two weeks, emotionally admitted to her feelings live on This Morning last week.

Attempting to hold back tears, Alison said on the show: “Obviously, I loved Phillip Schofield. And it’s weird because I still love Phillip Schofield. However, what he’s done is wrong. He’s admitted it. He’s said sorry. But as a family, we’re all really struggling to process everything."

Alison Hammond breaks down on This Morning over Phillip Schofield

She went on: "I never know what to say. But I remember what my mum said. My mum always said: use your Bible as your SatNav in life, and in the Bible, it says: he without sin, cast the first stone...

"I don’t want to say anything bad because obviously I’m in conflict. There’s so much a man can take, and I don’t want any death in this situation.”

Dermot O'Leary

Demot O'Leary also spoke candidly about the situation on This Morning, saying on the show last week: “This has been very difficult for us to cover this story as he’s a friend and a colleague."

He added: "Also, as a society, quite rightly, we talk about mental health all the time. But that can’t be the preserve of people who are on the right side of history.”

Alison and Dermot pay tribute to Phillip Schofield as they open This Morning

Rupert Everett

Actor Rupert Everett, 64, has also weighed in on the highly-publicised scandal unfolding with Phillip Schofield.

Speaking on Channel 4, Everett said that he thought the coverage of Phillip's affair is "homophobic" and should be "dropped" by the media.

He said: "What’s he done? He’s married and has had an affair with someone that’s legal to have an affair with. Unless there’s something else that we haven’t heard about they should drop it."

Rupert Everett has said the coverage of Phillip Schofield's affair is 'homophobic'. Picture: Getty

The actor went on: “It’s outrageous, this kind of Puritan fascism that’s going on. If it’s just about him having an affair and lying to his agency – why can’t you lie to your agent?

“Everything about today is insane. But that is another moment of insanity unless there’s something they have about him, having an affair and being married.

“That’s his business. It’s not our business. It’s not Holly’s business. The fact that it’s on the front pages of all our newspapers – we’ve got so many more important things to talk about.”