Kim Woodburn says Holly Willoughby ‘must quit’ This Morning after Philip Schofield’s resignation

Kim Woodburn has said Philip Schofield did the right thing by quitting This Morning, but added that Holly Willoughby has to go now too.

Phillip announced on Saturday that he would be stepping down from hosting This Morning after 21 years amid his alleged feud with Holly.

TV presenter Kim, 81, clashed with Phillip, 61, during appearances she made as a guest on the ITV show.

And in response to the news that he was leaving the programme, she told GB News: ‘I think he realizes his position is untenable. I think he used his common sense and he’s gone.

“You could tell he was king on that show. I mean, he really ruled the roost. And every time I hung out with him, he wasn’t very nice. He was downright mean. He literally laughed at me and chuckled at me.

‘The game is over. Everything is about him. It’s all exposed. He is gone. All I pray and hope for is that young Miss Holly Willoughby has the good sense to go.

Kim added, “She can’t go on. You think of Phil, you think of Holly. She worked with him all these years. She has heard that he is rude in front of people. She has seen him on the couch upsetting people. She’s never pulled it. She should have told him to stop.

She’s not a good presenter. And if she thinks she can run that show, she can’t do it without Phillip. She has to go. ‘

Woodburn also said she was surprised the pair hadn’t called it quits after “queue gate.”

She continued, “I was very shocked because the Queen of England was held in high esteem, our Queen Elizabeth, she was a true Queen.

And I couldn’t understand it for the life of me when they were both in press tickets cutting across the grass. There were people in line in wheelchairs who had been standing there for six hours. It sucked. It sucked for the people who wanted to look at it every morning.”

Phillip Schofield announced on Saturday that he would be stepping down from hosting This Morning after 21 years amid his alleged feud with Holly Willoughby.

He said in his statement, “I have always taken pride in writing fascinating stories on This Morning. But recently, This Morning itself has become the story.

“Throughout my entire TV career – including the very difficult last few days – I have always tried my best to be honorable and kind.”

Holly said: ‘It’s been over 13 amazing years presenting This Morning with Phil and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank him for all his knowledge, his experience and his humour. The bank won’t feel the same without him.’

Kevin Lygo, ITV’s Managing Director, Media and Entertainment said: ‘Phillip is without a doubt one of the best broadcasters of his generation and we thank him for his two decades of absolutely amazing television on the This Morning bank.

“This Morning was created by one of television’s best and most diligent teams, producing over 12 hours of live television each week.

“We look forward to continuing our relationship with Phillip, starting with the British Soap Awards in June and a brand new peak time series coming up.”

Holly remains on the This Morning couch with other members of the ITV family after a break and Phillip continues to present other primetime projects.

It comes after Eamonn launched a blistering attack on Phillip and Holly, telling them to leave This Morning rather than damage the show.

Eammon called the partnership “heartbreaking” when discussing the fallout on his GB News show.

Referring to Sunday night’s BAFTA TV Awards, where neither Phil nor Holly attended, Eamonn joked, “I think there should have been a special award for Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby for Best Actors.”

“They may or may not be on television together today. He brought in lawyers, she brought in a PR team. The audience will surely think there’s no chemistry, that it’s a broken bond between the two and that This Morning doesn’t depend on who’s hosting it.’

The ex-This Morning star continued, “It’s an institution, it will continue no matter who presents it and anyone can check the ratings, there’s no difference between them presenting it or anyone else.”

Eamonn co-hosted the ITV daytime show with his wife Ruth Langsford from 2006 until August 2021, until he was ‘dropped’ by ITV and replaced by Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary.

Meanwhile, Phil and Holly both looked solemn as they left for work early Monday when they were together on This Morning despite their degenerated relationship.

It comes as it turned out that Phil was sensationally kicked out of This Morning after co-star Holly told the ITV bosses she no longer wanted to work with him.

The veteran host finally agreed to the network’s ultimatum that he quit after 21 years as host of the daytime show amid a falling out with his co-star and former close friend.

Phil – who was believed to have fled on holiday on Saturday – alluded to the feud in ITV’s statement, which was issued without warning at 3pm.

The once inseparable couple had grown increasingly apart in recent months, but the split became final after Phillip failed to tell Holly about his brother’s child sex case.

The shocking announcement came days after frantic meetings between Phillip, his representatives and ITV’s top leaders amid the spat between the presenters.

It’s clear that Phillip, who was described as “a broken man,” dug in his heels to stay until the end, and it took “a lot of persuasion” to agree to terminate his contract immediately. It means that last Thursday was his last appearance on This Morning.

The decision was made late on Friday after days of crisis meetings at ITV. It was decided that the announcement would be made yesterday to give Phillip time to leave his West London home to get away from it all and escape the limelight.