Entertainment
Are Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield friends in real life?-Elizabeth Atkin-Entertainment – Metro
Do the duo get along off-screen?
Are things between Holly and Phil on the rocks? (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
For a long time, it seemed like Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield were the best of pals when they presented ITV’s This Morning each week.
But rumours of an off-screen feud ahead of Schofield quitting his presenting job on This Morning have plagued the celebrity duo.
On Saturday, Phillip, 61, confirmed in a statement that he was leaving the ITV show after more than 20 years, describing the last few days as ‘very difficult’ while adding: ‘I understand that ITV has decided the current situation can’t go on, and I want to do what I can to protect the show that I love.
‘So I have agreed to step down from This Morning with immediate effect, in the hope that the show can move forward to a bright future.’
But are Holly and Schofe still as close off-screen as they are on?
Find out what they’ve said about their real-life friendship here.
Are Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield friends in real life?
Holly Willoughby, 42, and Phillip Schofield, 61 have always claimed to be good friends away from the cameras.
They were This Morning colleagues since 2009 and were often in fits of laughter on the show.
Phillip said on their hit morning show that Holly is ‘the sister I never had’.
The pair are known to have gone on holiday to Portugal together – along with Phillip’s wife Steph, Holly’s husband Dan, and their respective kids.
In a 2016 episode of Loose Women, Phillip said: ‘We hang out. What’s lovely is that my Steph and Holly’s Dan, everyone gets on, so it’s a foursome, we go out for a meal, you know… all the kids get on.’
Holly added: ‘We spend so many hours together, then when we’re off in the summer, we spend a lot of time together. We just get on quite well. We think in the same way.’
Rumours of a rift emerged in 2019, after Holly stepped in for Ant McPartlin on the 2018 series of I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here – jetting off to Australia for several weeks, according to The Sun.
Holly and Phil appear to make each other crack up at Wimbledon (Picture: Karwai Tang/WireImage)
Phillip was accused of being ‘jealous’ of his pal’s success – but any claims of a feud have always been firmly denied.
And Holly directly refuted the claims to Newsbeat at the time, saying they couldn’t work together so much ‘without getting on’.
Though Holly and Phil obviously have a great time, in emotional moments, the pair are there for each other, too.
In February 2020, when Phillip revealed he was gay live on This Morning, Holly was by his side.
‘I could not have done this, if it hadn’t been [with] you,’ he told his tearful co-star.
In July 2021, we caught another glimpse of their real-life friendship, with Schofe joking about Holly’s new presenting gig with Bradley Walsh.
During Holly’s appearance on The One Show, Phillip sent in a video clip sarcastically admitting that he was ‘devastated’ Holly had found ‘another man’.
Holly quipped in response: ‘I’d love to say I’ve traded him in for a younger model but that’s not the case with Bradley Walsh.’
And just a few weeks earlier, we saw the pair sitting side-by-side and having a good giggle at a Wimbledon tennis match.
However, this month saw feud rumours reignite as it was claimed that they were ‘barely speaking’ off camera.
Following the claims, Phil appeared to downplay rumours of a feud as he heaped praise on Holly and branded her his ‘rock’.
The presenting duo are no more as Phillip quits This Morning (Picture: REX)
Speaking to The Sun, he said: ‘As I have said before, Holly is my rock. We’re the best of friends – as always, she is an incredible support on screen, behind the scenes and on the phone.
‘Holly has always been there for me, through thick and thin. And I’ve been there for her.
‘The last few weeks haven’t been easy for either of us.’
Phil’s statement was then said to have ‘blindsided’ Holly, who wasn’t aware he was going to speak on their friendship.
The pair continued to present This Morning despite rumours persisting that the pair were being urged to quit, before Phil eventually announced his departure.
Holly will present the show alone in the future, alongside other members of the This Morning team, like Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary who present the Friday edition of the programme.
After Phil announced his departure, Holly added: ‘It’s been over 13 great years presenting This Morning with Phil and I want to take this opportunity to thank him for all of his knowledge, his experience and his humour.
‘The sofa won’t feel the same without him.’
MORE : Phillip Schofield seeks solace with mum in Cornwall after stepping down from This Morning
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