EXCLUSIVE It’s over! After 15 years, Holly Willoughby ‘cuts ties’ with co-host Phillip Schofield

Holly Willoughby has made the devastating decision to cut ties with Phillip Schofield as the rift between the TV presenters deepens, The Mail on Sunday understands.

Until recently, she put aside their growing differences as she felt a strong loyalty towards her co-host, which was key to her landing the job of This Morning in 2009.

But Mr Schofield’s release last week of making a statement about their friendship without consulting her first has hit her hard, friends say, and now Ms Willoughby, 42, thinks it’s time to go it alone.

Those close to her are also aware that Mr Schofield’s popularity is plummeting, saying their 15-year friendship is effectively over.

Pensive: Holly Willoughby looked glum as she stepped out on Saturday amid her rumored ‘feud’ with This Morning co-host Phillip Schofield

The Mail on Sunday first revealed cracks in their relationship last month, with tensions sparked by allegations that the couple were ‘queuing up’ at the Queen’s emplacement.

Sources have told this newspaper that the two will stop talking to each other when the cameras on This Morning stop rolling. They will appear together tomorrow, but ITV bosses fear Ms Willoughby will be too upset to go on the air.

The broadcaster has declined to say whether she or Mr Schofield will be on the air, with a decision expected today.

However, it is increasingly looking like Mr Schofield, 61, will be leaving the show. His contract expires in September and This Morning editor Martin Frizell – formerly one of Mr Schofield’s biggest backers – is said to be ‘tired of cleaning up Phillip’s mess’. However, he still has high-level support elsewhere in ITV.

Ms Willoughby was photographed yesterday looking gloomy behind her dark glasses while visiting Hampshire. She was dressed in a £1,890 Chloe coat, a Gucci Horsebit 1955 mini shoulder bag worth £2,480 and £99 Hoff Montreal trainers.

Crisis: ITV bosses were in crisis talks about Phillip Schofield’s future on This Morning last night after he reportedly ‘faced’ Holly in a tense phone conversation

A close source said: ‘Nobody ever thought it would end like this. They were part of each other’s families and spent many of their weekends socializing’

The break seems to mean the end of a friendship in which they regularly eat at each other’s house and go on holiday together.

The split seems to mark the end of a friendship in which they would regularly eat at each other’s house and go on holiday together.

A source close to Ms Willoughby said: ‘Don’t be surprised if you never see them together again except on cameras. This is all so heartbreaking for Holly, but she knows she needs to stand on her own two feet and be in control.

“Nobody ever thought it would end like this. They were part of each other’s families and spent many of their weekends socializing. She tried so hard.’

Insiders say the most likely outcome is that Ms. Willoughby will present This Morning with her new friend Alison Hammond – who co-hosts the show on Friday – or solo.

Step aside Holly and Phil… there’s been a slew of breakfast TV duo rifts from Eamonn Holmes and Anthea Turner’s breakup to Denise van Outen and Johnny Vaughan’s feud over pay

Holly and Phil are far from the first breakfast TV presenting duos to fall apart.

In the mid-90s, Eamonn Holmes and Anthea Turner’s smiles on GMTV turned out to be a front when their breakup was revealed.

Holmes called her ‘Princess Tippytoes’, and it was alleged that he forced Ms Turner to leave the ITV daytime show in 1996.

And then there were Selina Scott and Frank Bough on the BBC’s Breakfast Time show in 1983. She says he undermined her by interrupting mid-question, insisting on having the last word and repeatedly telling her how well-endowed he was.

In the mid-90s, Eamonn Holmes and Anthea Turner’s smiles on GMTV turned out to be a front when their breakup was revealed.

Selina Scott says Frank Bough undermined her by interrupting the question midway through the BBC’s Breakfast Time show in 1983

When Ms Scott, now 72, did not respond positively, Bough claimed she must be frigid or lesbian.

He said of her, “Even when she’s riding a bike, she keeps her knees together.” She left in 1986 – and he left a year later. Channel 4 Big Breakfast presenters Denise van Outen and Johnny Vaughan rowed over wages. She dropped out and they didn’t speak for seven years.

Ms Van Outen said: ‘The relationship fell apart when we started to renegotiate contracts. I’ve always felt that we worked together as a team and that’s how it should be.’

It was often said that Britain’s Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid were falling apart. She would raise her eyebrows at him and he claimed she was gentle with guests.