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Inside Phillip Schofield's shrinking inner circle as celeb 'friends' fall silent

01 June 2023 , 14:39
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Inside Phillip Schofield
Inside Phillip Schofield's shrinking inner circle as celeb 'friends' fall silent

After almost 40 years at the forefront of TV, Phillip Schofield undoubtedly counts some of entertainment's biggest names among his closest friends.

From Piers Morgan to Ant & Dec - and, of course, his former 'bestie' and This Morning co-host Holly Willoughby - the fallen star's little black book was once bulging.

But after confessing to an affair with a 'much younger' production assistant and stepping down from ITV, who does Phil have in his court?

A number of fellow ITV stars initially rallied around when he first announced he was leaving This Morning - before details of the affair became known - with Rochelle Humes, Clodagh McKenna, and Piers all sharing their support.

Inside Phillip Schofield's shrinking inner circle as celeb 'friends' fall silent eiqehixhikqprwPhillip was seen behind the front passenger seat (CLICK NEWS AND MEDIA)

Last week, Phil was spotted taking refuge at his mum's house in Cornwall. But still married to wife Stephanie Lowe, no one knows if her unwavering support has shifted in light of his affair revelation.

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As for his loving daughters Ruby and Molly - the latter of who is signed to the same agency that just fired her father - their social media accounts fell silent just before the confession.

But Ruby was seen with her disgraced dad in the back of a cab this afternoon.

Snapped for the first time since his recent admission, Phil sat at the back of the car behind the front passenger seat with Ruby sat next to him.

Inside Phillip Schofield's shrinking inner circle as celeb 'friends' fall silentPhil with wife Stephanie and their daughters Molly (left) and Ruby (right) (Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Holly has been spotted lapping up the sunshine in Portugal, where she is currently on holiday with her family.

To begin with - and before news of the affair broke - it appeared that several big names had thrown their support behind Phil.

This Morning co-star Rochelle Humes publicly paid tribute to the presenter in a gushing online post.

Sharing three throwback photos of herself and Phillip presenting the ITV show together, Rochelle reflected on the fun times they'd had together.

'I've proudly been a part of the This Morning family for almost 10 years and over the last few, it has been an absolutely pleasure learning so much from you," she wrote, thanking him for being a 'fountain of knowledge and laughter'.

Phil's replacements Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary also gave a nod to Phil as they took over the couch.

Opening the show, Alison kindly said: "Now, we can't start today's show without paying tribute to the man who spent the last two decades sitting on the This Morning sofa, Phillip Schofield."

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She went on to hail Phil as, "one of the best live television broadcasters this country has ever had."

Inside Phillip Schofield's shrinking inner circle as celeb 'friends' fall silentRochelle said she had learnt so much from her co-star (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Dermot added that everyone on the show and ITV, "wants to say a huge thank you to Phil for what he's done to make the show so special and such a success over the last 21 years."

Meanwhile, fans dubbed Irish celebrity chef Clodagh McKenna, 48, the 'only sincere' person on the set, claiming she showed 'real affection' and sadness over Phillip's departure.

Before Phil's affair bombshell, Clodagh bid farewell to the host, gushing that it had been a pleasure to work alongside him for so many years.

Sharing a snap of the pair in the This Morning kitchen, Clodagh wrote: "21 years of brightening up our mornings. And I've been so lucky to be part of 3 of them.

"I'll miss the morning hug, the twinkle in your eye that makes me giggle and your empathy."

Inside Phillip Schofield's shrinking inner circle as celeb 'friends' fall silentClodagh McKenna has been applauded by This Morning fans for her heartfelt tribute to Phillip Schofield (Clodagh McKenna/Instagram)
Inside Phillip Schofield's shrinking inner circle as celeb 'friends' fall silentPhil and Clodagh at the Tric Awards in 2012 (Adam Gerrard / OK! Magazine)

Meanwhile, despite Phillip and Piers Morgan having had their moments in the past, Piers also initially threw his support behind Phil.

The divisive presenter sympathised following his own abrupt exit from ITV's Good Morning Britain in 2021 after he accused Meghan Markle of lying in her Oprah Winfrey interview.

He described Phil's initial downfall as 'brutal to watch' before hitting out at the, "ruthless backstabbing in the world of daytime television."

Inside Phillip Schofield's shrinking inner circle as celeb 'friends' fall silentPiers and Phil have a jokey relationship (David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock)
Inside Phillip Schofield's shrinking inner circle as celeb 'friends' fall silentPiers also left ITV in a dramatic exit (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

"One minute Schofield was the undisputed king of morning TV and fast heading to bona fide national treasure status – the next he's a dethroned, shamed, vilified, national disgrace and social media laughing stock," Piers wrote.

Amid reports of toxicity on This Morning, Phillip shared an Instagram post slamming those that have 'grudges' against him, claiming that there was 'no toxicity' during his time on the show, which he labelled as "the best show to work on, with the best people."

But where are those people now? Their silence is deafening.

Sources say Phil and Holly will never work together again, and she issued a scathing statement after Phil's affair emerged, claiming he'd lied to her face.

His old ITV ally, This Morning editor Martin Frizell, is reportedly now firmly on Team Holly.

Inside Phillip Schofield's shrinking inner circle as celeb 'friends' fall silentAlison said Phil is 'one of the best live television broadcasters' (ITV1)

Dermot and Alison, meanwhile, are said to be fuming over being forced to make their toe-curling statement in front of millions of ITV viewers.

A source said: "Both are furious. The telling thing in all of this is the silence where Phil's colleagues could have stepped in to back him. No one wants to be damaged by association.

"There is a real shock behind the scenes that such a successful show has been so badly hit by the actions of one presenter."

Meanwhile, as former colleague Eamonn Holmes, who previously hosted This Morning on Fridays with Ruth Langsford before being replaced by Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary, publicly blasted Phillip, he claimed only one Loose Women panellist liked him as they attempted to distance themselves.

"There was probably a minority of one [Loose Women] who actually liked Phillip Schofield. One Loose Women out of ten or twelve," Eamonn claimed during the explosive interview with Dan Wootton.

They say it's lonely at the top, but it seems to be even lonelier on the way down.

Saffron Otter

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