Holly and Phil’s names ‘were not on official Westminster list’ but duo were ‘ushered in’

April Curtin

The presenters are still facing backlash

Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield were not on the official accreditation list for their infamous visit to see the Queen’s coffin, a source has claimed, as the presenters continue to face backlash over the queueing scandal.

The This Morning duo created a “hoo-ha” when they turned up to Westminster Hall last week to see the Queen lying in state, an insider told Mail On Sunday.

Holly and Phil faced a barrage of abuse after they used their press access to avoid queueing for hours to get into Westminster Hall. Outraged social media users accused the pair of “skipping the queue”, with trolls becoming aggressive in their comments online.

This Morning, the show which Holly and Phil present, was hit with hundreds of Ofcom complaints from disgruntled viewers in the aftermath. A petition to axe the duo from TV has been signed over 70,000 times. ITV is now understood to be supporting the pair amid “real and serious concern” for their wellbeing.

The duo arrived at Westminster Hall with two other ITV colleagues and were filming a special segment for their programme This Morning.

Speaking about the ongoing scandal, one insider involved in processing the media list claimed that Holly and Phil’s names were not on the official list, with ITV instead using the names of its production team to help them gain access.

The source said: “When they got there, their names weren’t on the list so there were some discussions and – after some back and forth – Phil and Holly were given access and they were ushered through. The whole thing caused a bit of a hoo-ha.”

ITV insists it could not give Holly and Phil’s personal contact details to Palace of Westminster authorities, so producers gave the email addresses of programme editor Martin Frizzle and another member of production who accompanied Holly and Phil there.

A statement issued to Mail on Sunday from ITV said: “The accreditation was organised for Phillip and Holly by This Morning’s production team and so while it was absolutely clear at the time of booking that Phillip and Holly would be attending to report for This Morning, we would never share personal contact details for any of our onscreen talent and so the email addresses of the production members accompanying Phillip and Holly on the day were instead given.”

Both Holly and Phil have already addressed the outrage on This Morning, insisting they “respected” the rules set for the media. But both appeared shaken up over the uproar, and fans have expressed concerns that Holly looked like she had been “up all night crying”.

“The abuse has been nothing short of disgusting, not least as they have done nothing wrong and were fully entitled to media accreditation so they could inform their viewers,” a source told The Mirror.

JOE has contacted ITV for comment.