Alison Hammond is left squirming as comedian Josh Widdicombe makes an awkward Phillip Schofield joke during her latest TV appearance.
The This Morning host, who paid tribute to the disgraced ex-host last weekend, remained silent as the studio audience gasped at the joke, which airs on tonight’s episode of Rob Beckett’s Smart TV on Sky Max.
Alison and The Last Leg star Josh, 40, are team captains on the TV-themed series, which is hosted by comedian Rob, 38.
Presenter Alison, 49, sparked the prank after revealing the only television she watches in her spare time is herself on This Morning, via catch-up as she is ‘too busy’ due to her other numerous TV jobs.
But Josh hit back: “You’re the only person to ever go on ITV Player and do This Morning… since the episode where Phillip left.”
Alison Hammond continues to squirm as comedian Josh Widdicombe makes an awkward Phillip Schofield joke during her latest TV appearance
The This Morning host remained silent as the studio audience gasped at Josh Widdicombe’s joke, which airs on tonight’s episode of Rob Beckett’s Smart TV on Sky Max
Presenter Alison revealed the joke after revealing the only television she watches during her free time is herself on This Morning, via catch-up, because she’s ‘too busy’
The joke saw Alison’s guest teammate Roman Kemp bury his head in his hands as the This Morning star kept her composure with an awkward grin.
The episode Josh alluded to aired in June last year when Phillip’s regular co-host Holly Willoughby announced his departure after famously asking viewers the question: ‘Are you alright?’, before describing how the This Morning crew ‘ gave love and support to someone who did not tell the truth’. ,” a nod to Phillip’s inappropriate relationship with a young showrunner that he kept secret.
Speaking to The Sunday Times last weekend, Alison spoke about Phillip’s departure from the ITV show after 23 years, while also insisting she ‘didn’t want to fall into salacious gossip’.
She said: “All I want to say is that I personally wish Phillip Schofield all the best.
‘I loved Phillip Schofield. Point. But that’s the last thing I’d want to talk about.’
Veteran presenter Phillip, 61, has kept a low profile since leaving ITV, where he also lost his role in Dancing On Ice alongside Holly, now occupied by Stephen Mulhern.
He was last seen on Monday looking somber as he walked his dog in a London park.
The former Going Live star has not spoken publicly since his tell-all interview with the BBC last June, in which he denied ‘grooming’ his young colleague, 34 years his junior, after meeting him at drama school.
The joke saw Alison’s guest teammate Roman Kemp bury his head in his hands as the This Morning star kept her composure with an awkward grin
Host Rob Beckett quickly moved on from Josh’s Phillip joke to spare Alison further humiliation
It comes after Alison publicly wished Phillip ‘all the best’, saying she ‘loved her former ITV colleague’ before he left the broadcaster last May (pictured February 2024)
Veteran presenter Phillip has kept a low profile since leaving ITV, where he also lost his role in Dancing On Ice alongside Holly, now occupied by Stephen Mulhern (pictured October 2022)
The Mail on Sunday recently revealed that he paid his young lover to keep quiet about their relationship, handing over a six-figure sum to prevent the man from ever talking about their time together as part of a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).
A source familiar with the NDA said: “The young man has been vulnerable for some time now. That’s no secret.
“Several matters were paid for following Phillip’s decision to speak out about his relationship and as part of this a non-disclosure agreement was drawn up and signed.
‘It means Phil knows his young ex will never be able to talk about their relationships again, which means he can probably sleep a lot better now.
‘He has lost a lot, but imagine if the full details were to become known – that would be quite disastrous for him.
‘As for the young man, let’s hope he can now move on with his life and rebuild it – but that’s not easy. And it’s a bit rich to present an NDA after Phil had his say at the BBC last year.’
Alison and her co-presenter Dermot O’Leary were rumored to be in the running to take over from Phillip and Holly on Friday, who quit four months later, but the main presenting job ultimately went to Cat Deeley and Ben Shepherd, who started the show. new era this week.
But Alison insists she never wanted the job full-time, citing her many other TV projects as a major factor.
She explained, “We are the Friday boys. We love being Friday boys. How could I? I live in Birmingham and do Bake Off and For the Love of Dogs.
‘I never wanted that job. We did extra last year because we had problems, but Cat and Ben will save that show.”
- Rob Beckett’s Smart TV continues on Sky Max and NOW on Thursday at 9pm