Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond paid a tribute to Phillip Schofield today following his exit from This Morning.
Phil, 61, announced at the weekend that he was stepping down from the daytime show with “immediate effect”. It came after reports claimed his friendship with Holly Willoughby had ‘cooled’. Meanwhile, some TV stars hit out at Phil publicly over his alleged behaviour on the show.
On Monday (May 22), Alison and Dermot hosted. Holly has taken her half-term break and is due to return next week. At the start of today’s show, the pair paid a tribute to Phil.
Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary on This Morning
Alison 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.”
Dermot’s body language is most obvious as he displayed lots of pacifying gestures, which are gestures of uneasiness.
Dermot added that everyone on the show and ITV “want 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”.
Concluding the short statement, Alison said: “Quite simply, we all know he’s one of the best live television broadcasters this country has ever had. And we, and all the team, wish him all the best for the future.”
Analysing Dermot and Alison’s statement, body language expert Darren Stanton said the pair showed signs of ‘sadness’ as well as looking ‘uncomfortable’.
Speaking on behalf of Betfair, Darren said: “There’s quite a lot of tell-tale signs in Dermot and Alison’s body language today that proved the pair were slightly uncomfortable. It wasn’t specifically their personalities, but clearly there’s an awkwardness in the studio.
“Dermot’s body language is most obvious as he displayed lots of pacifying gestures, which are gestures of uneasiness. There isn’t so much a lack of confidence, but there was an uncertainty to his presenting.”
This Morning today
He added: “It was almost as though he wasn’t comfortable during the early moments of today’s show. He appeared to interlock his fingers quite a lot and often clasped his hands together, which are both gestures that denote uneasiness and awkwardness.
“Alison also displayed a few hand clasps, which also signify that someone is unsure in themselves.”
Darren also claimed that Dermot and Alison appeared “genuine” in their delivery of the tribute to Phil on This Morning. He said: “I think Dermot is the most affected, but they both showed genuine sadness over Phillip’s departure. From a non verbal perspective, Alison was talking in line with the words, which means she had total confidence in what she was saying.
“She wasn’t just delivering lines from an autocue, but she truly believed what she was saying. It was definitely a genuine and authentic tribute to Phillip’s service on the show.”
Phil confirmed his exit from This Morning on Saturday (May 20).
Following Phil’s announcement of his exit, Holly took to her Instagram to release a statement. She said: “It’s been over 13 great years presenting This Morning with Phil and I want to take this opportunity to thank him for all of his knowledge, his experience and his humour. The sofa won’t feel the same without him.”
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