HOLLY PUTS BOOT IN
HOLLY Willoughby admitted feeling "shaken, troubled and let down" by her ex-best pal Phillip Schofield as she made a tearful return to This Morning.
The emotional presenter, 42, addressed the elephant in the room in the opening of her first show since the scandal.
7
7
7
Holly looked visibly nervous as she clutched her co-host Josie Gibson's hand before bracing herself to read a statement.
"Hi there, good morning. Josie, thank you for being here," she said.
Holly added: "Right, deep breath", before pausing to ask viewers: "Firstly, are you OK? I hope so.
"It feels very strange indeed sitting here without Phil.
READ MORE ON THIS MORNING
"I imagine you might have been feeling a lot like I have...
"Shaken, troubled, let down, worried for the well-being of people from all sides of what's been going on and full of questions.
"You, me and all of us at This Morning gave our love and support to someone who was not telling the truth, who acted in a way that they themselves felt they had to resign from ITV and step down from a career that they loved.
"That's a lot to process and it's equally hard to see the toll it's taken on their own mental health."
Most read in TV
At this point Holly's voice broke as her eyes filled with tears and she took a deep breath to gather the strength to continue.
"I think what unites us all now is a desire to heal and for the health and well-being for everyone," she said.
"I hope that as we start this new chapter and get back to a place of warmth and magic that this show holds for all of us, then we can find strength in each other.
"From my heart can I just say thank you for all of the kind messages. Thank you for being here this morning.
"Myself, Josie, Alison, Dermot and Craig and every single person who works on this show will continue to work hard every single day to bring you the show we love."
Holly was then embraced by an emotional Josie, who added: "All we can be now is the family that we are."
Holly replied: "Exactly."
The TV star has been absent from the set for the past two weeks — during which time her former pal Phillip, 61, came clean about his affair with a much younger ITV runner.
Phillip, who was married at the time, branded the relationship "unwise but not illegal".
He insisted to The Sun that Holly did not know about his affair.
He said: “I’ve lost my best friend. Holly did not know. And she was one of the first texts that I sent to say ‘I am so, so sorry, that I lied to you.’”
A shattered Phillip will reportedly not watch Holly’s return to the show today because it will be too devastating for him, his pals say.
Despite his support and affection for his former co-star, a friend said: “He physically could not watch — he's not there yet.
“Even listening to the opening credits would be hugely triggering.
“His family is being incredibly careful not to have the TV on when he’s in the room to ensure he doesn’t see anything.
“Of course he is aware Holly is back on air today and he absolutely wanted her to shine, and smash it.
“But he physically could not watch — he is not there yet.”
Following Holly's statement, the show returned to normal with Queen singer Adam Lambert scheduled to be interviewed later to celebrate Pride month and the LGBT community.
Phone-ins involving the public will be heavily vetted by production staff to filter out any attempted viewer outbursts over the scandal.
And interaction segments where viewers send in pictures and social media posts are being paused to avoid the risk of any abuse being targeted at the presenters.
Later in the week, Holly will be joined by Irish presenter Craig Doyle, while Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary will be back for their usual slot on Friday.
Holly's much-anticipated return comes after speculation she would follow in Phillip's footsteps by quitting.
Fans were convinced she had left the show while holidaying her £8m Algarve villa.
Even former This Morning host Eamonn Holmes predicted she wouldn't be seen on the sofa again.
It was also reported Holly is in talks to quit ITV for BBC following the recent upset on This Morning.
We revealed last week that Phillip apologised to Holly for lying to her about his secret relationship — and for tainting her public image.
The pair worked together for 14 years, since 2009, and were inseparable, now they no longer speak.
Phil told The Sun they have broken all contact — and revealed it was his paedophile brother’s imprisonment that made her distance herself from the friendship.
He has admitted having suicidal thoughts since he was forced out of ITV over the affair scandal that rocked his career.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
In his Sun interview he revealed he worked with the This Morning runner for a short period and had become friends.
They met when the boy was just 15, but Phillip said that his colleague was 20 years old when he first had any kind of sexual contact with him - which happened a total of five or six times.
7
7
7
7