This Morning star claims they were ‘bullied out of contract and complaints were ignored’-Meghna Amin-Entertainment – Metro

A former This Morning star has claimed they were ‘bullied’ out of their contract (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

A former This Morning star has claimed they were ‘bullied’ out of their contract by a producer after undergoing surgery for bone tumours.

Coupon queen Holly Jay-Smith regularly appeared on the programme to share tips and hacks for viewers wanting to save some money.

Earlier this year, the 38-year-old revealed she was diagnosed with a bone tumour, which is why she’d been missing from TV and social media.

She said she’d ‘offered to go back to the show’ but was told they had ‘moved on’.

Holly has now attempted to set the record straight, and claimed she wasn’t axed because of her bone tumours but was ‘bullied by a newly promoted producer for asking for autistic adaptions’.

She alleged: ‘Let me set the record straight: I wasn’t axed from a certain TV show because of my bone tumours.

‘I was bullied by a newly promoted producer for asking for autistic adaptions, she tried to trick me into signing out of my contract early, and my complaints were ignored.

‘The therapist they provided was pure damage control. Some might not believe me or wonder why I’m speaking out now.

‘I’m now in possession of recordings that will reveal the truth if they try and take me to court. So for now this is the ‘Coupon Queen’ over and out. Not associated with any coupon expert on TV.’

Holly Jay-Smith regularly appeared on the programme to share tips for saving money (Picture: Instagram)

This comes after a post in April, in which she said: ‘To address some #thismorning tweets, I was diagnosed with a bone tumour in September (which I’ve now recovered from).

‘I offered to go back to the show but they replied saying they had moved on. I wrote lots of TV content during recovery & open to work. Missing @AlisonHammond tho!’

In September, Holly also wrote on X: ‘The fact that I haven’t been on This Morning for over a year and people still tag me and say they miss me means so much.

‘But please be kind to anyone else doing the ‘money-saving’ segments on the show – it’s not fair to compare us or pit us against each other. Much love, x.’

Holly claimed she’d ‘offered to go back to the show’ but was told they had ‘moved on’ (Picture: Instagram)

Holly took to X to ‘set the record straight’ (Picture: X)

Months earlier, amid the BBC scandal surrounding Strictly Come Dancing, Holly asked her followers: ‘If Zara McDermott has hidden recordings showing her mistreatment while rehearsing for Strictly Come Dancing, is it acceptable to make secret recordings if you feel unsafe and mistreated at work? (Asking for a reason!)’

Holly opened up about her surgery at the start of this year, saying she wanted to put 2023 behind her.

She wrote: ‘I wanted to post this now as I’m ready to put 2023 behind me. A few months ago I found out I had two bone tumours in my left leg which had caused major destruction in my lower tibia.

‘It was months of bed rest, tests and pain before I could have surgery. (I wasn’t in a good place so I decided to come off social media).’

She said she’d undergone surgery in Birmingham to have her tibia reconstructed with metalwork and donor bone.

Holly underwent surgery last year for bone tumours (Picture: Instagram)

Holly continued: ‘I’m not going to lie, the pain is bad and walking might be an issue for a while but I want to get back to what I love (saving money!) so here’s to 2024 and lots of trips to Birmingham (but on the bright side I hear they have a good Primark!).’

The accusations Holly has made against This Morning come after stars like Dr Ranj Singh and Eamonn Holmes hit out at the daytime TV series, claiming it was ‘toxic’ behind the scenes.

After the scandal surrounding Phillip Schofield, which led to him stepping down from the show months before Holly Willoughby over his ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair with a runner,ITV chief executive Carolyn McCall addressed claims about the culture at This Morning.

Grilled by MPs about the accusations of the culture at the long-running show, she replied: ‘What I would say is that it’s not something that we take that seriously.

‘What I know is that when we talk about culture it’s incredibly important to me, personally and so it deeply disappoints me, right?

‘But we do not recognise that in This Morning and the reason for that is that we have tangible evidence to tell you that the vast majority of people at daytime and at This Morning are engaged.

This Morning faced allegations of a ‘toxic culture’ after Phillip Schofield stepped down after admitting his ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

‘That’s not to say we don’t take complaints about it seriously. We’ve had two complaints in five years about that issue. Both of them taken very seriously.’

It was later claimed a significant number of people who previously and currently work for This Morning made claims of ‘toxic working cultures, bullying, discrimination and harassment’ to Parliament.

In August, correspondence was published from Dame Caroline Dinenage, chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, to Dame Carolyn, PA News reported.

It read: ‘In the month that has passed since your appearance before the committee, we have been contacted by a large number of individuals who have identified themselves as currently working or previously having worked on This Morning or as part of the wider ITV Daytime team.

‘These individuals speak with great pride about working at ITV and are hugely positive about many of their colleagues. However, they also raise claims of toxic working cultures, bullying, discrimination and harassment.

‘Your letter of June 15 encourages individuals to raise their concerns through internal or external routes, and we will make individuals aware of those options. However, some of those individuals who have contacted us have described how their decision to raise concerns within ITV has led to further bullying and discrimination, and in some cases having to leave the organisation with a settlement agreement.

‘It is easy to understand why those individuals, especially where they have left ITV and do not wish to relive their traumatic experiences, do not feel capable of attempting to report their concerns, or that ITV will take them seriously.’

ITV’s Dame Carolyn wrote a letter to the committee chair in response to claims that have been made.

Regarding the revelation of past and present This Morning employees coming forward, she said: ‘You also say that others have come forward to you about their experience at ITV but do not feel capable of attempting to report their concerns, or that ITV will take them seriously.

‘Having taken the step to bring matters to your attention, in line with my letter to you the day after the hearing, I would ask you to continue to encourage individuals to contact ITV via our reporting line SafeCall, through which reports can be made confidentially or anonymously. Alternatively, individuals may wish to contact Jane Mulcahy KC directly.

‘As we made clear to you and the Committee, we are absolutely committed to enabling people to raise any issues or complaints they may have about working at ITV.

‘We always take these seriously and will investigate and take whatever action is appropriate. However, we are unable to do so if we cannot engage with those people.’

Metro has approached ITV for comment.

This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1.

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