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22nd May 2023
11:58am BST
Eamonn Holmes has launched a scathing attack at Phillip Schofield following his departure from This Morning, claiming that the presenter was sacked from the role.
On Saturday, Schofield announced he was stepping down from his presenting duties on the show after 21 years in the role.
In a statement, Schofield wrote that he was quitting to “protect the show” which had become the focus of media reports due to the apparent deterioration in his relationship with co-presenter, Holly Willoughby.
But Holmes, who has previously labelled Holly and Phil a "pair of actors," claimed the wording of the statement was "nonsense", and voiced his belief that Schofield had been "sacked."
Speaking on his GB News breakfast show, he said: “Oh please, just stop this. He was sacked. All this nonsense of ‘I’ve decided to step down’. I’m sure you did – ‘here’s your P45 now step down’.”
Following Schofield's statement, Willoughby released her own statement in which she expressed her sadness at his departure.
But Holmes, who left This Morning in 2021 after 15 years, was having none of this either.
Mocking Willoughby, he said: “'Oh, the couch will not be the same without him being there.' Well, she wanted him not there, so what is she moaning about?
"Holly is being as false as he is and nobody is talking about the elephant in the room.”
He went on to accuse Holly of 'stabbing Phillip in the back' and said the pair had demonstrated a "lack of kindness and lack of awareness."
He continued: “They deserve each other. She says ‘I thank him for all his knowledge, experience and humour’ - sll the things that she didn’t have when she came to the show. Well, it’s true.
"I would call that stabbing in the back. I could give you a list of the lack of kindness and lack of awareness from both of them.”
On Monday morning, This Morning was hosted by Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary.
The pair paid a very short tribute to Schofield in the opening minutes of the show, with Alison labelling him “quite simply one of the best live television broadcasters this country has ever had.”
Reports on Monday said Schofield had been left “completely broken” by his departure, and had been given six months’ wages as a parting gift.
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