‘Holly should follow Phillip’: Eamonn Holmes doesn’t think Holly will return to This Morning

Eamonn Holmes has said he doesn’t think Holly Willoughby will return to the This Morning bench and called for her to follow Phillip Schofield ‘shut the door’.

He berated his former co-stars while weighing in on “toxicity” claims on This Morning, saying that Phillip was “so rude” and “Holly doesn’t know people’s names either.”

Predicting that he won’t be returning Holly to the show – from which she’s taking a break – he told Dan Wootton, “I don’t think you’ll ever see Holly Willoughby back on the couch.”

He also took aim at Willoughby, who he claimed would fight to protect her brand, telling GB News: “There are people who are financial experts who will say this is about brand protection for her company and her ad deals.”

It comes amid reports that Willoughby is determined to fight on to keep her spot on the bench, despite the ongoing chaos on the program caused by Schofield’s revelations that he lied about his affair with a much younger man.

In a bombshell interview with GB News last night, Holmes, a former presenter of This Morning, accused ITV of covering up the relationship, labeling Schofield a “lead narcissist”.

ITV and Willoughby representatives have been contacted for comment.

Willoughby is paid £730,000 a year for her presentation on This Morning, but has a growing business empire, estimated at £10 million.

She has amassed the huge fortune not only through her television portfolio, from hosting I’m A Celeb to Dancing with The Stars, but also through a series of lucrative brand deals from Marks and Spencer to Diet Coke.

And in 2021, she launched her own wellness and lifestyle brand Wylde Moon, akin to Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop.

When Schofield announced he was alive, Willoughby wrote on Instagram that “the bank will seem so empty without him.”

But Holmes quashed this statement, adding, “She should dance on the couch, because that’s what she was always looking for.”

He subsequently labeled both Willoughby and Schofield as ‘rude’.

He said, ‘That bullshit he wrote today about toxicity, but it’s a happy place and whatever, holy God, what planet is this man living on?

“He created an atmosphere where people hated him, that people would avoid them in the hallway, he didn’t look at anyone, he didn’t know anyone’s name.

“Holly doesn’t know people’s names either. This is legendary within the production teams, how far along they are and how they just don’t care.’

Over the years, the This Morning host has signed a number of lucrative brand deals, from Diet Coke (pictured) to M&S and Garnier

During the interview, Holmes shared how his wife Ruth Langsford is still in touch with Schofield’s ex-lover.

Others have called on Willoughby to go, including former culture secretary Nadine Dorries, who said the presenter has “questions for answers”.

She is currently off the air since Schofield’s sudden departure; however, this was due to a planned holiday for the school holidays.

The 14-year-old presenter is expected to make her return to the program on June 5.

A source told the mirror yesterday: ‘Holly wants to stay with This Morning as long as possible and hopes to get the scandal out of the way. Other stars such as Stephen Mulhern are being approached to fill in for Phil if she returns. Some are hesitant to enter and are met with angry viewers.

Holly is determined to stay – the only reason she’d leave now is if This Morning is axed. She has absolutely no intention of leaving.’

Throughout the interview with Holmes, he made a series of allegations surrounding the ongoing Schofield scandal, which has plunged ITV into a crisis in which sponsors have pulled out of multi-million pound deals.

Holmes, a GB News presenter, said 61-year-old Schofield had allowed his “fame and power” to “corrupt” him.

He also shared that his wife Ruth Langsford is still in touch with Schofield’s ex-lover, who was described as a “lovely fellow,” and that “life is tough” for him.

On Schofield admitted on Friday that he had lied about his relationship with the man, leaving ITV in trouble and losing millions of pounds in sponsorship deals.

Holmes told fellow GB News presenter Dan Wootton tonight that he had decided to stand up for ‘people who had no voice’.

Speaking of the scandal engulfing ITV, he said: ‘It’s a total cover up. The authorities had to know.

On Schofield admitted on Friday that he had lied about his relationship with the man, leaving ITV in trouble and losing millions of pounds in sponsorship deals in the aftermath

When approached by a GB News producer, ITV’s director of media and entertainment, Kevin Lygo, refused to answer questions about Schofield

“They had to know what was going on and they thought they would dodge the bullet, which they did and they do that all the time.”

Holmes claimed Phillip and his young lover would go out on Thursdays and enjoy ‘playtime’, with the man staying overnight at his £1million flat in London.

The following day, the pair would arrive at ITV Studios in separate cars from Schofield’s home, he added.

“All I’m doing here is speaking for people who don’t have a voice… I’m speaking on their behalf,” he added.

Holmes said, “Usually on Friday mornings, because Thursday was playtime when he and Phillip would go to town and then of course he would stay the night. There are records showing he was brought in separately the next day in cars paid for by ITV.’

ITV’s managing director of media and entertainment, Kevin Lygo, declined to answer questions about Schofield after he was chased down the street by a GB News producer.

Asked outside a station if there had been a ‘cover up’ of the affair, Mr Lygo walked off, telling the producer, ‘We really have nothing more to say.’

ITV has continued to insist it is investigating in 2020 after rumors circulated about Schofield’s affair with a younger male employee.

But last night, while ITV claims both parties were interviewed, sources close to his former lover said he was never questioned about the matter.