Eamonn Holmes’ decision to attack Phillip Schofield head-on is the most explosive episode of the pair’s bitter feud to date.
The veteran presenter, 63, did not leave his criticism of Phillip, 61, claiming in a TV interview that he would take his younger lover to “play” on Thursday nights, followed by rendezvous at his £1million London hideout.
Equally striking was the personal nature of the attack: in a television interview, Eamonn described Phillip as the “supreme narcissist” who did not know the names of his associates. It came hours after Eamonn branded his enemy a “maniac” and a “liar”.
None of that resentment will come as a surprise to longtime observers of the couple, who have watched a seemingly amicable professional relationship collapse in the most public way possible.
Eamonn Holmes – a broadcasting institution with over five decades of experience – has known Phillip for most of his professional life. They are pictured together on This Morning in 2013
Yesterday Phillip issued a statement dismissing claims of a “toxic” atmosphere on This Morning
Eamonn later described the statement as “delusion”, adding: “Believe me Pip, if you’re looking for a fight you’ve picked the wrong person.”
Eamonn – a broadcasting institution with over five decades of experience – has known Phillip for most of his professional life. They began working together on This Morning in 2006 when Eamonn joined the program four years after his rival.
The men were never close, but appreciated each other’s broadcasting styles and worked together professionally.
But that all changed in 2019, when Eamonn’s wife and This Morning co-host Ruth Langsford filed an official complaint against Phillip.
While working on Loose Women, Ruth was cut off mid-link by Phillip explaining what’s on in a mini-segment on This Morning.
Phillip said, ‘Guys we’re going to have to jump in and stop you guys I’m afraid because we’re a little tight on time at this end.’ Thanks Ruth.’
A visibly unimpressed Ruth replied, “Well, I only had about two more words to say,” and looked away from the camera.
Speaking about the incident in the Chron’s Weekend magazine in February 2022, Eamonn publicly voiced his condemnation of Phillip, saying Ruth was one of many people in the industry who were “snubbed” by the presenter.
He said, “Phillip has been known to snub people.” He’s very passive-aggressive. It’s up to Ruth to say how she felt, but she hurt me. No one would have snubbed me like that.’
He added. “I don’t like presenters who think they have a special privilege, aura or influence.”
Despite apparent tensions between the trio, the following month Eamonn and Ruth presented This Morning for a 2020 segment in which Phillip came out
After a backlash over Eamonn’s “gross” jokes, Phillip tweeted that he appreciated Holmes trying to lighten the mood and tweeted that Eamonn and Ruth had been “absolutely amazing to me”.
The awkward relationship between Eamonn, Ruth and Phillip came to light in front of a live television audience during the NTAs 2020 when Phillip presented a trophy won by This Morning to Ruth during an acceptance speech and gave her a chance to say a few words.
And in the press room afterwards, as the This Morning team showed up with their trophy, Eamonn attempted to take the gong from Phillip, implying he was going to take all the glory.
Timeline of the Phillip Schofield Scandal
September 2022 – Schofield and wife Willoughby face criticism for not queuing for the Queen’s state appearance. ITV insisted the two were on hand to cover the venue.
April 2023 – Phillip is absent from This Morning for two weeks while his brother Timothy, 54, faces charges of sexually abusing a teenager at Exeter Crown Court.
April 3 – Timothy Schofield is found guilty of “emotionally blackmailing” the teenager into engaging in sexual acts and watching porn with him.
May 10 – Reports surface that Schofield and Ms Willoughby “barely talk”. A day later, he issues a statement calling her “my rock.”
May 15 – The pair appear united at the presentation of ‘This Morning,’ but rumors of a feud linger. They reportedly had a falling out over Schofield not informing them of his brother’s trial.
May 20 – Schofield announces he is stepping down from This Morning, effective “immediately.”
May 22 – Substitute hosts Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond hailed their former colleague as “one of the best live television networks this country has ever had”.
May 26 – Schofield releases a statement admitting to having an affair with a “much younger” colleague but then lying about it.
May 27 – Mrs Willoughby slams him for lying to her.
May 28 – Former This Morning resident Dr. Ranj Singh, slams the show’s “toxic” culture.
May 29 – Schofield releases a statement denying claims the series has a toxic culture, prompting Eamonn Holmes to tweet about him as “delusional”.
Despite apparent tensions between the trio, the following month Eamonn and Ruth presented This Morning for a 2020 segment in which Phillip came out.
Phillip, who sat on the sofa next to Holly, hugged Ruth and Eamonn several times and kept thanking his co-hosts.
After being praised for his courage by Ruth, Eammon added, “Phillip, nobody should be ashamed of their sexuality.”
“It’s fantastic that so many people are empowered by your words.”
Despite the outward scenes of unity, Eammon made a series of tacky jokes that now seem revealing.
He quipped, “I’m disappointed in a number of ways. At first I thought you were going to come out and announce that you’d resigned and I could get your job, but that wasn’t to be.”
He then jokingly lamented that it was a “huge unpredictability in life” that Phillip’s wife Steph and Holly’s husband Dan Baldwin never “had a problem” with the two hosts sharing a hot tub.
After backlash, Phillip tweeted that he appreciated Holmes trying to lighten the mood and tweeted that Eamonn and Ruth “had been absolutely amazing with me”.
He added: “And for the record, @EamonnHolmes made me laugh, he brightened a very emotional moment and I’m very happy about it.”
Eamonn liked that tweet and also shared his own message of support on social media, writing, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”
“This is a man who has been in pain who has confided in Ruth and I today and who knows we support him, his family and his sexuality…Unlike some, he also appreciated a laugh to ease the tension.” @ Schofe hopes you find your happiness.
Tensions between the two continued to simmer throughout 2020, with Eamonn reportedly furious when Phillip misspelled his name on every single reference to him in his newly released memoir, Life Is What You Make It.
“Eamonn, with two N’s, rages. How could no one see that in 400 pages?” A source told The Sun. “If it’s a hoax then Eamonn certainly wasn’t involved and the blunder has once again caused a stir.”
A second source defended Phillip, calling the error “a real typo”.
In November 2021, Eamonn and Ruth were controversially dropped from This Morning after 15 years and replaced by Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond on the Friday show.
Eamonn was particularly saddened by ITV’s sacking, claiming he was never given an exact reason.
His snub was made even more frustrating because he was convinced Phillip had received unwavering support from ITV even though his behavior was not okay, a belief shared by Phillip’s former co-host Fern Britton and Amanda Holden, who co-starred with him in 2015 This Morning moderated. while Holly was on maternity leave.
Eamonn Holmes, Ruth Langsford, Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield used to be the faces of This Morning (pictured 2020)
Eamonn, 63, co-hosted the Friday episode of This Morning on ITV with his wife Ruth, 63, for 15 years and they covered Phil and Holly over the holidays (pictured in 2013).
The incident confirmed Eamonn’s belief that Phillip was constantly being feted behind the scenes despite his bad behavior, sources claimed.
“They are two very different characters. Eamonn, who knows everyone from tea lady on up, remembers everyone,” an insider told The Mirror.
“We have Phillip who didn’t know anyone’s name and only talked to people when they were helpful or gave him a step up.
“Eamonn never got a break, Phillip was the ‘couldn’t go wrong’ guy, he had so much power, he had investments, a lot of the stars and acts came from Phillip’s old agency YMU.”
After joining GB News, Eamonn has been less reticent in his public criticism of Phillip and Holly. The star liked a meme that poked fun at the couple for “queuing in line” at the Queen’s funeral last year.
But his apparent disdain for Phillip was heightened during his public spat with Holly, prompting him to resign from This Morning on May 20 with “effective immediately”.
Eamonn addressed Phil and Holly in September, accusing them both of “lying” about not getting past the queue to see the Queen
Presenters were furious when images emerged of them appearing to “skip the line” while tens of thousands of mourners waited patiently
This led to an Instagram post from Holly, in which she described how the “This Morning” sofa wouldn’t “feel like this” without him.
Eamonn then explained the terminology used in both statements.
“All this ‘I’ve decided to resign’ nonsense. I’m sure you did – here’s your P45, now step back,” he told GB News.
Of Holly, he added, “And she’s like, ‘Oh, the couch won’t be the same without him there.’ Well, she wanted him not there. What is she complaining about? I suppose they deserve each other.’
He continued, “Holly is just as fake as he is and nobody talks about the elephant in the room.”
“She says, ‘I thank him for all his knowledge, experience and humor.'” All the things that she didn’t have when she came to the show. Well it’s true! I would call that a stab in the back.
“I could give you a list of the unkindness and unconsciousness of both. How they would socialize and how the people around them are.
“You just have to look at my phone, full of people happy to see the backs of the two.”
Eamonn criticized a statement in which Phillip claimed he chose to “resign”, calling the proposal “nonsense”.
Yesterday, Eamonn was quick to attack a statement from Phillip in which he claimed the atmosphere on This Morning had become “toxic” and stressed it was “the best program to work on”.
In response, Eamonn tweeted, “Schofield just made a delusional statement.” Like Holly, he posts it on Insta Stories so if anything goes wrong there’s no record after 24 hours.
“I hesitate to pay any more attention to the liar, but believe me, Pip, if you’re looking for a fight, you’ve picked the wrong person!”
But none of this compares to Eamonn’s comments about Phillip during a session interview last night, where the presenter revealed a series of damaging new claims about his affair with a younger colleague.
He told GB News anchor Dan Wootton that he had decided to “stand up for people who don’t have a voice” and revealed that the younger man, whose name Web declined to name, was seriously injured by Phillip.
He said: “Thursday was playing time as he and Phillip went into town and then he obviously stayed the night.” Records show he was taken the next day separately in cars paid for by ITV.
He called the younger man “loveable” and a “really good, talented bloke” and said the taxi to work on a Friday morning was part of a “cover-up” by ITV bosses.
Eamonn hasn’t caught on on social media. In that post, he supported calls for Phillip and Holly to be fired
He said, ‘Unless Phillip paid the bills separately, it would still have to go through the accounts department.’ You would have seen that and known that.’
A second interview follows tonight, although Eamonn is unlikely to be more reticent in his attack on his former colleague.
A source explained his thinking earlier this month: “Eamonn believes what happened to Phillip is karma.”
“If you’re good to people on your way up and to the top, people will usually fight for you.”
“But because Phillip never really believed in that mantra, he thinks he has to pay for it now.”