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All eyes were on Holly Willoughby today as she returned to her hosting duties on This Morning for the first time since her former colleague Phillip Schofield became the subject of national controversy.
The 42-year-old addressed the scandal, which has received unprecedented public attention, by giving a short speech, starting with asking viewers: “Firstly, are you okay? I hope so.”
Comedian David Baddiel didn’t hold back as he took to Twitter shortly after Holly’s speech, slamming the presenter alongside some viewers and other stars.
The writer penned: “When Holly Willoughby said ‘Firstly, are you OK?’ I genuinely thought she was talking to someone behind camera, before realising that of course she was talking to us, the great British deeply-traumatised by everything’s that happened on an ITV morning show public.” (sic)
David’s scathing remarks garnered over one million views during the course of the day, with viewers adding their own criticisms in the comments section.
One sarcastically wrote: “I’m struggling to cope if I’m honest.” While another slammed the speech as “utterly cringeworthy”.
Another joked: “Hang on a minute…So when’s Oprah doing the Holly and Phil interview?”
While some defended the presenter saying she was simply reading what had been put on the autocue for her, one slammed: “I actually thought she was speaking to Phil but swiftly realised it was an autocue which meant nothing to anyone.
“Also she wouldn’t say his name; was he really the baddie in the Harry Potter films/books that no one could mention?”
Holly and Phillip had been working together for over a decade and their enduring friendship behind the cameras was well-documented, leaving fans in much anticipation over what she would say when she returned to This Morning.
In Holly’s speech, the mother-of-three admitted it felt “very strange” to be on the show without Phillip and that she had been “shaken, troubled, let down, worried” by the scandal.
While she noted that it had all been “a lot to process”, she hoped “we can find strength in each other” and thanked viewers for their “kind messages”.
In mid-May, Phillip revealed he had had an affair with a younger male colleague on This Morning, and has since told The Sun that although he apologised to Holly for lying, he was yet to receive a response.
The former This Morning star lamented that he has “lost my best friend” but insisted that she knew nothing of the affair and declared that any claimed linkage between Holly and the scandal “is absolutely, wholly untrue”.
