DAN WOOTTON reveals how Phillip Schofield’s fate was sealed over fears of on-air sabotage

In just 30 seconds of emotionless TV, Phillip Schofield was gone from This Morning for good at 10am.

No best bits assembly. No tribute from his co-hosts. Just a few stills and highly scripted praise of his live presenting abilities from Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary, the two people who will benefit most from his brutal removal.

How could more than 20 years on the bench end in such a disappointing and lightning-quick fashion?

ITV bosses made the decision to deny Phillip a final round of victory as they feared there was a real chance the show would be sabotaged by an irate regular or A-list guest.

I learned that at least four well-known stars plotted to ambush the scandal-ridden host live over a series of allegations about his behavior, without the knowledge of show producers.

I am aware of the identities of the A-listers and regulars, but show bosses were not, making it impossible to risk such a reputation-damaging moment that would have gone viral around the world.

Such a moment would also have been impossible for Holly, who had already made the difficult decision to end her TV partnership and friendship with Phillip, worried about the damage the continued collaboration could do to her own reputation.

An ITV source told me: ‘The growing paranoia about what could go wrong was engulfing management. They made it through four days without major disaster, even though it was clear that Holly and Phil’s friendship was over.

But if Holly had been put in the position of trying to defend him on the show against an attack on his reputation by a regular or celebrity guest, it would have been an impossible position for her.

Everyone decided it would be irresponsible to bring Phillip back on the air, even if he bid viewers a final farewell. But that’s an extraordinary thing to do with a presenter after 20 years on the air.’

Ranj Singh, the former This Morning doctor, was already the first regular to break ranks, adding to the nervousness of the show’s embattled editor, Martin Frizell, and Emma Gormley, the channel’s daytime head, who both spent years of warnings and remained fiercely loyal to Phillip until recently.

During an interview on the Secure the Insecure podcast, which was only released today but was pre-recorded last week, the show’s medic publicly admitted for years what a number of This Morning stars had privately discussed in frenzied WhatsApp conversations.

Dr Ranj said, ‘I’ve been waddling a little bit this week, which we’re thinking about a little bit, hold on, do I fit in here?

Is this in line with my values? It feels like this isn’t the kind of environment I want to be a part of. And there’s been a lot of negativity around different parts that we’re all part of this process.

“Is this really a place for people like us where we think, wait a minute, this isn’t okay, you know, what’s going on and what we’re hearing doesn’t align with our values.”

Despite the brutality behind the scenes, one of the keys to the success of This Morning and the wider ITV Daytime programming is the premise that behind the scenes the stars are one big happy family.

The ongoing drama surrounding Phillip and his behavior threatened to torpedo that myth.

I was the first to reveal that Holly and Phillip had broken up in 2019, but his high-profile coming out as gay and the trauma of the pandemic continued to ripple over the cracks until earlier this year.

However, when Phillip’s reputation was further tarnished when he was dragged into his pedophile brother’s lawsuit, Holly decided to cut ties.

I’ve learned that the first signs of discontent between the couple came during a previously unknown fallout related to International Women’s Day on Wednesday, March 8.

Holly, in conjunction with the show’s editor Frizell, had decided that an all-female line-up would be featured to mark the occasion, with Phillip completely on the sidelines.

But Phillip was enraged by the plans and went over Holly’s head to Frizell’s boss Gormley to stop them.

As a result, Holly was only allowed to host the first part of the show, surrounded by the show’s female production staff, while Phillip was sent to a café down the street for a live item.

But soon after, he returned to sit on the couch with her.

“Holly was furious about Gormley’s decision and the fact that Phillip had undermined her, and made that very clear to countless people at ITV,” my source reveals.

“It was the first real sign for the This Morning staff that their relationship was broken and that Holly wanted to step out of Phillip’s shadow.”

As the Mail’s Katie Hind revealed this morning, it was significant that Holly used a pink “girl power” heart emoji in her Saturday Instagram story to wish Phillip a tepid goodbye.

Meanwhile, the future of ITV Daytime itself is in the balance, with ratings for Good Morning Britain and Lorraine also plummeting following the departure of Piers Morgan and Jeremy Kyle from the line-up.

If ITV bosses hope the discontent over Phillip’s This Morning reign of terror is over with his effective sacking, they may be disappointed, with a host of stars remaining furious at the handling of the situation.

A well-known name told me: ‘There are still a lot of questions ITV needs to answer. Why did they stand by Schofield for so long, only to throw him under the bus the second Holly spoke?

“So many of us had complained and pointed out the negativity surrounding Phillip on and off the screen for so long, but they were ignored. So what has changed? Or do they just listen to Holly?’

ITV has always treated Phillip differently.

There was the costly decision, both financially and reputationally, when he handed then Prime Minister David Cameron a so-called ‘pedo list’ of names he found on the internet.

Then the scandal over skipping the line to see the late Queen laid out in state angered viewers, which became known as Queuegate.

Not to mention the discomfort caused behind the scenes when Phillips PA and personal runner – a man in his 20s – left This Morning to work on Loose Women amid unfounded allegations of a feud with Schofield, even though claims ITV that he was promoted.

There is also anger. ITV is now still standing by Phillip, offering him six months’ wages, solo hosting duties at the British Soap Awards and another primetime series.

One This Morning star was furious: ‘His behavior has obviously been such that he’s only given a 30 second tribute, but then ITV says he remains part of the family. They might regret that, especially if he gets booed at the Soap Awards.”

And while the Phillips crisis management PR team may be running stories that he’s been “hung out to dry” as the star is helpfully portrayed with his elderly mother, there’s limited sympathy.

A celebrity whose career was briefly derailed by Phillip told me, “He ruined so many TV careers simply because he decided he didn’t like someone.

“He showed no empathy for anyone when they were brutally kicked off this morning for his particular quirk on a particular day. There is great celebration among the country’s most famous TV presenters because he is now going through the same experience.”

As someone who has also felt Phillip’s wrath on numerous occasions during my ten-year career at ITV Daytime, it is extraordinary that no current or former star of the broadcaster has spoken out publicly in support of Schofe since his abolition.

Not one.