Reports claim that Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary are “furious” after having paid tribute to former host Phillip Schofield on This Morning. Schofield has been in hot waters after revealing he had an affair with a younger man on the show.
Following the statement to the Daily Mail, he resigned from his network, ITV and was dropped by his talent agency as well. Hammond and O’Leary paid a tribute to the former host of 21 years after he officially resigned from the show.
A source told The Mirror that the two are upset that they were dragged into the situation after the affair came to light. “Both are furious. The telling thing in all of this is the silence where Phil’s colleagues could have stepped in to back him. No one wants to be damaged by association.”
They added: “There is a real shock behind the scenes that such a successful show has been so badly hit by the actions of one presenter. The thinking last week was that when it returned after the summer, Phil would not be replaced by one person – but that there’d be a rolling rota on the sofa, much like there is on Good Morning Britain. But now those conversations seem irrelevant.”