We love making This Morning, say hosts, as Schofield denies toxicity

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Alongside the cast and crew of This Morning, we'll be dutifully bringing our coverage to a close shortly.

Here's a quick summary of how the first show since Phillip Schofield's admission of an affair with a younger colleague played out:

What Schofield said

Getting in shortly before the programme aired, Schofield denied claims of a toxic culture on the show, accusing his critics of being the same group as those holding a grudge against him.

In an Instagram story, he also said This Morning was "the best show to work on, with the best people".

How the show handled it

Despite a cheery and arguably slightly incongruous opening to the show, stand-in presenters Dermot O'Leary and Alison Hammond addressed the controversy relatively early.

O'Leary stressed the entire team behind the scenes "love making this show for all of you", with Hammond adding "we are going to continue to do that".

In a slightly awkward exchange with Gyles Brandreth, the regular guest and fellow-broadcaster said: "We are happy to be here, this is a happy place to work, we're happy people in a happy place."

Interesting reactions?

The most notable reaction to Schofield's comments came from colleague-turned-critic Eamonn Holmes, who took to Twitter to accuse Schofield of being a liar and publishing a "delusional" statement.

There's been the usual mix of social media comment too, including lots of jokes about unaddressed elephants taking up residence on a certain sofa.

And that's it, This Morning has just finished - you can almost hear the sighs of relief from the ITV studio.

Stand-in presenters Dermot O'Leary and Alison Hammond briefly addressed the Phillip Schofield saga at the top of the show, in a rather awkward 30 seconds you can watch below.

Apparently taking aims at claims the show is "toxic", O'Leary said the "whole team love making" the programme. Hammond chipped in that they'd continue to make it - seemingly pouring cold water on any idea that ITV are preparing to axe the daytime show.

There was no hint as to who might replace Schofield at the British Soap Awards on Saturday, despite there being a whole segment looking ahead to it.

Apart from that, it was the usual brand of daytime TV - secret celebrity tearoom owners, seagull impressions, and eyebrow shaping advice.

And that's a wrap. The first episode of This Morning since Phillip Schofield admitted his affair has ended.

Stand-in hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary look pretty pleased as they do a dance in the studio as the closing credits roll.

As This Morning chef Phil Vickery makes a millionaire's shortbread (keep a square for us please), let's hear from TV critic Scott Bryan.

Speaking just before the programme aired, he told BBC Radio 5 Live he was "surprised" that programme makers opted to go ahead with today's broadcast.

He said it was a big decision given advertisers were getting cold feet, and he "can't imagine" regular guests would be pleased to appear at the moment.

Bryan said when a TV show becomes the focus "in such a big way", the hit to morale for the production team behind the scenes mean it is really hard to move on from.

Quote Message: It's been quite strange watching This Morning in the last couple of weeks because it feels as if you're watching a show from a parallel universe."

It's been quite strange watching This Morning in the last couple of weeks because it feels as if you're watching a show from a parallel universe."

Bryan says ITV is a "huge commercial channel" which pays attention to the views of advertisers and viewers, noting there has been a dip in the number of people watching it recently and "it'll be interesting to see how they perform today".

We're two hours into today's episode of This Morning on ITV, with about 30 minutes left. And this is the moment that hosts Dermot O'Leary and Alison Hammond addressed the row over Phillip Schofield and his affair with a younger male colleague.

As we've been reporting, O'Leary started the show by saying the whole team "love making it".

But keep watching as actor Gyles Brandreth then weighed in, insisting "we're happy people in a happy place".

The wait is over! Coronation Street's Simon Gregson is revealed as the celebrity who's working in his wife's tearoom in Cheshire, in what has been a gripping subplot for us this morning.

Looking very fetching in a branded apron, he quips that even though he helps out in the cafe, and goes out to buy ingredients, he doesn't get a staff discount.

Nevertheless, he looks pretty happy as he chats away in the sunshine - who wouldn't be, surrounded by all that cake?

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In a perhaps unsurprising turn of events, viewers of This Morning have been giving their verdict of today's show on social media.

One writes it seems like the presenters are "just carrying on regardless", adding Dermot O'Leary and Alison Hammond have "disappointed lots of their viewers".

A particularly pithy response to the show came in the form of an edited picture featuring an elephant sat between two people and the comment: "Dermot and Alison on the #ThisMorning sofa today."

Some are more sympathetic about the difficult situation, with another viewer expressing sympathy for a "fed up" looking O'Leary in particular - as a recent addition to the team who has been "dragged into" the mess.

"Fair play to Dermot and Alison, that the elephant in the room is mentioned at the top of the news review," was the similar view of a man who also tuned in earlier.

Forget Phil, we're on tenterhooks to find out which celebrity has a surprise connection to a tearoom in Cheshire. We've just had a clue - that there's "no Greggs on this street".

Alison Hammond is finding it hard to keep schtum. Who is it?! We can't wait to find out...

As the show turns to a tearoom with a surprise celebrity connection, let's look at who might replace Philip Schofield at This Morning and on other ITV shows.

We know that Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary have been pulled into emergency sofa duties on scandal-hit This Morning.

But there are two big primetime shows that still have a question mark over hosting duties following Schofield’s resignation.

British bookmakers are taking bets over who will take over the British Soap Awards - which are being filmed on Saturday and broadcast on 6 June - with comedian Alan Carr said to be among the frontrunners.

Dancing on Ice, which Holly Willoughby still remains co-host of, is seeing names like Marvin Hume, Joel Dommett and Rylan among the bookies' favourites.

There's a feeling of everyone rallying behind the show, to ensure it carries on as it always has, with a mix of serious stories, laughs and consumer information.

It's rattling through all its usual items, with much warmth between everyone on camera today.

And we reached the end of the British Soap Awards segment with no news about who will replace Schofield at the ceremony on Saturday.

Ahead of the high-profile British Soap Awards on Saturday, it's "soap week" on This Morning, where they're looking behind-the-scenes at much-loved TV shows.

But for many viewers tuning in this morning, it is the behind-the-scenes real life drama at ITV that is gripping national attention.

Viewers are likely to be questioning how much of this is genuine feelings or just good acting by This Morning’s cast.

According to one tabloid newspaper, fill-in presenters Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary were “fuming” over the tribute they had to make for Phillip Schofield last week. We may never know their true feelings.

This Morning have just cut to an advert break, but afterwards, they'll be talking about this week's British Soap Awards.

Phillip Schofield was down to present the event - but his exit from ITV means he will no longer be doing so, and a new host is yet to be announced.

Let's see if we get any more details...

As the show's doctor discusses rising cases of measles, let's rewind a second to take a closer look at the somewhat awkward exchange at the beginning of the show, as they sought to address the elephant in the room.

Appearing to reference claims of "toxicity" at the programme, presenter Dermot O'Leary said: "We all know we happen to be in the news at the moment and of course we appreciate that but just from both of us, the whole team here, the crew, the guys downstairs, we love making this show for all of you."

Picking up from O'Leary, co-presenter Alison Hammond appeared to downplay speculation that the show would be axed: "We really do and that's exactly what we are going to do, we are going to continue to do that."

And Gyles Brandreth, who was in the studio to review the news stories of the day, said the word "happy" at least four times as he stressed how pleased he was to be on the sofa...

The atmosphere is definitely light and fun - they are going for laughs along the way.

Gyles Brandreth, a regular on the sofa, is talking about dressing up as a dinosaur and reminiscing about animal impersonator Percy Edwards.

There is much hilarity as Brandreth does some bird impressions, and presenter Alison Hammond is talking about dressing up as a banana, while co-presenter Dermot O'Leary talks about Johnny Morris voicing animals to films on children's TV.

Everyone is now standing up to increase their blood flow and waving their arms. This conversation is jumping round very quickly, I can't keep up...

It's clear that Gyles Brandreth, a regular on This Morning, was keen to put his side across, but was acutely aware the main presenters weren't quite addressing the weekend's headlines about the show.

"We are very happy to be here," he says, which suggests he does not agree with recent news stories about the show's atmosphere being toxic.

"Can I say that as well?" This rather awkward exchange wasn't answered by the other presenters, so he carried on.

"It's actually a happy place to work. I enjoy coming in and have done since I began.

"We're happy people in a happy place with some interesting stories."

Columnist Sonia Sodha, sitting next to him on the sofa, agreed.

Everything then continued as normal, after the only reference so far to all the dramas behind the scenes.

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As the guests on the This Morning sofa chat about artificial intelligence, let's recap how presenter Holly Willoughby has reacted to her former co-host's affair.

After the news broke, Willoughby said it was "very hurtful" to discover Schofield lied to her about his relationship with a younger colleague.

Willoughby and Schofield presented the ITV daytime show This Morning together for 14 years until his exit last week.

In a statement on Saturday, Willoughby said when reports of it first surfaced, she "asked Phil directly if this was true and was told it was not".

Writing on Instagram, Willoughby added it had "taken time to process" the news.

Gyles Brandreth, actor and broadcaster, is on the sofa to talk about the food price cap.

He starts by saying: "We are happy to be here, this is a happy place to work, we're happy people in a happy place."