Holly Willoughby turns to her mum for support amid the Phillip Schofield scandal: TV star relaxes on £8m bolthole holiday in Portugal with her family by her side amid storm over co-host’s affair with young runner
- The ITV star is pictured for dinner with her parents and sister
Holly Willoughby spends more than a thousand miles away from the This Morning drama while holidaying with family in Portugal, it has been revealed.
The ITV star is pictured having dinner with her parents Linda and Brian, sister Kelly and three children near her £8million villa in the Algarve.
An onlooker said 42-year-old Willoughby appeared to be trying to stay under the radar, wearing a hat and sunglasses.
“The area is a holiday hotspot for Brits so she’s probably worried about being asked about the This Morning scandal,” they said. The sun.
At one point, Holly spoke at length to a waiter she seemed to know personally. She seemed to be enjoying herself—unlike her old friend Phillip.”
Holly Willoughby spends more than a thousand miles away from the drama of This Morning while holidaying with family in Portugal, it has been revealed (Photo: Holly on a previous trip)
Holly Willoughby has been spotted on holiday in Portugal. She was pictured with Phillip Schofield on this morning earlier this month
Schofield was seen today in London for the first time since leaving ITV and This Morning
Willoughby is believed to have spent the week in the 23C sun as the Phillip Schofield scandal deepens.
Schofield, 61, resigned from ITV on Friday and was dropped by his agency YMU after admitting to having an ‘ill-advised, but not illegal’ affair with a younger male colleague.
Willoughby has been quiet since he released an Instagram statement on Saturday saying it had taken “time to process yesterday’s news” following Schofield’s statement, adding: “When reports of this relationship first surfaced I asked Phil straight up whether this was true and was told it wasn’t. It has been very painful to find out now that this was a lie.’
She will return to This Morning after the break next Monday, but former presenter Eamonn Holmes predicted she won’t be returning to the bench after Schofield’s explosive exit.
Former ITV commercial director Ian McCulloch also said that while it appears she is ‘holding on’, producers must now make a clear break and ‘take the show further’.
Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on the couch of ITV’s This Morning earlier this month
On Saturday, Willoughby wrote on Instagram that it had “taken time to process yesterday’s news” following Schofield’s statement
Schofield was also seen today for the first time since leaving ITV almost a week ago.
The former This Morning presenter was photographed being driven around London while sitting in the back seat of a car next to a woman believed to be his daughter Ruby.
The presenter was spotted when it was revealed that Willoughby will be grilled over the scandal by a top lawyer – and the show’s presenting teams past and present may also be questioned about what they knew about his fling.
Alison Hammond, Dermot O’Leary, Eamonn Holmes, Ruth Langsford and Dr. Ranj Singh may all be asked to give statements to employment lawyer Jane Mulcahy KC.
An ITV spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘We would expect the KC to be able to ask to speak to anyone it deems relevant to carry out the assessment’.
In a humiliating descent after a crisis staff meeting, the broadcaster said it would engage a lawyer to “carry out an external assessment to establish the facts.”
Since Schofield’s resignation, the show has been plagued with accusations of ‘toxicity’ – which has also affected Willoughby’s standing.
Producers have also had to deal with guests turning down offers to appear on This Morning – and its biggest sponsor, car dealer Arnold Clark, has confirmed it will not renew an existing multi-million pound deal with the channel in the autumn.