Holly Willoughby has been tipped to leave This Morning by the end of the year as the Phillip Schofield scandal rages on.
This comes after she returned to the show for the first time since Phil’s exit on Monday (June 5).
Holly returns to This Morning
Monday saw Holly return to the show after an extended break away. She hadn’t hosted the show since Phillip quit last month.
At the beginning of Monday’s show, Holly issued a statement about her former co-host. “Firstly, are you doing ok? I hope so. Feels very strange indeed sitting here without Phil. And I imagine you’ve been feeling a lot like I have. Shaken. Troubled. Let down. Worried for the well-being of people on all sides of what’s been going on. And full of questions,” she said.
“You, me, and all of us at This Morning gave our love and support to someone who was not telling the truth. Who acted in a way that they themselves felt as though they had to resign from ITV and step down from a career that they loved. That is a lot to process,” she then said.
Her statement divided viewers, with many accusing her of throwing Phil “under the bus”.
Holly tipped to leave This Morning
However, just days after her return to This Morning, Holly has been tipped to leave the show by the end of the year.
According to BettingSites.co.uk, Holly is currently at 6/4 to leave the show by the end of 2023. However, she is currently at 1/2 to remain on the programme she’s been on since 2009.
Meanwhile, Phillip has been tipped to make a sensational return to the show by 2025. The 61-year-old is currently at 6/1 to return to the show within the next two years! The bookies also have him at 6/4 to return to TV in general by 2025.
Only time will tell whether Holly sticks it out without her long-time host!
Star warned over future statements
Meanwhile, Holly has been warned by a crisis management expert about releasing any more statements about Phillip. It comes after the expert branded Holly’s statement from yesterday’s show “misguided at best, madness at worst”.
Speaking to ED! exclusively, CEO of GoUp, Edward Coram James, said Holly’s statement risked her coming across as “insincere”.
“In a nutshell, I don’t believe that Willoughby is reading the room very well,” he said.
Later, he said: “The best thing for Willoughby to do now is to move on, and hope that, whereas she will definitely have won a lot of supporters, she hasn’t in the process put off a lot of former fan.”
“She would be very unwise, from a crisis communications point of view, to continue to release statements that are anything other than truly reconciliatory. So, probably best that she stops releasing statements full stop,” he then said.
Read more: All the other names who’ve come off badly in the Schofield scandal
This Morning airs on weekdays from 10am on ITV1 and ITVX.
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