'Truth' behind Phillip Schofield and Eamonn Holmes feud, according to star's friends

The pals of TV presenter Phillip Schofield have opened up on his celebrity feuds with stars such as Eamonn Holmes and Amanda Holden.

Friends of TV presenter Phillip Schofield have revealed for the first time the details of the star's bitter feud with Eamonn Holmes. According to one pal, the presenter feels Eamonn has a "personal vendetta" against him since he was demoted from the Friday position on This Morning, reports The Mirror.

They claim Eamonn is angry because he is "consumed with jealousy that Friday rated poorly compared to the rest of the week." Schofield's pal claimed that this was the primary cause for his departure from the ITV show in 2021. "It was simply down to ratings," the friend stated.

They also stated that Eamonn was furious that Schofield never messaged him after being let go by ITV. "The truth is that Phillip wishes he did message him but bigger things were happening in his life and stroking his ego wasn't one of them," a friend recounts.

According to the friend, Schofield had never had an issue with Eamonn until he published a "scathing" piece about him. “When Phillip asked, confused, why he had done it, Eamonn said he was two faced. And that was it … his personal vendetta of hatred began,” the friend says.

“This included ‘knowing’ that he’d used his personal ITV car account ‘to ferry his lover’ which was utterly untrue….and backed up by the fact that presenters don’t have personal car accounts at ITV.”

Eamonn recently stated that he was "very proud" to have "thrown him under the bus" before accusing Schofield of being "absolutely addicted to fame". He has lambasted him and co-star Holly Willoughby several times in the past, notably after queue-gate in 2022, when he dubbed them both "arrogant liars."

When Schofield announced his departure from This Morning, Eamonn was quick to reply, stating, "Schofield has finally been caught out". Schofield's friend reported that while Eamonn's wife Ruth was well-liked by the entire crew, they were indifferent about him. "He definitely wasn't as popular," the friend alleges.

The friend also revealed the details of wife Ruth and Schofield's infamous fight in 2019. Ruth was conducting a Loose Women ad at the end of This Morning when she went over time, causing Schofield to cut her off. Eamonn's estranged wife allegedly complained to ITV about Schofield's behaviour at the time. But Phil's friend said he was not to blame.

A source said: “The gallery was going completely potty shouting in Phil’s ear that he had to cut Ruth off as she had over-run, and it all got quite heated. Phil was just following orders.”

The friend also discussed the well-publicised dispute between Amanda Holden and Schofield, which arose as a result of Holden's failure to land the This Morning position while Holly was in the jungle. Amanda was expected to fill in for Holly on This Morning when she was abroad hosting I'm a Celebrity in 2018, but Rochelle Humes from The Saturdays won the role instead.

Schofield’s friend said that he was left upset about being put on Amanda’s “most hated’ list”, and accused of blocking the appointment “People always go up for jobs they don't get but she took a bitter and public revenge,” the pal says.

“It was all part of a hideous communication mix up and not what has been painted out to be. Amanda had lunch with one ITV boss who said afterwards he was sure she could have the gig. But Rochelle had already been approached and cleared her diary.”

Amanda has previously spoken about the incident, insisting they would never reconcile. She told her Heart breakfast host Jamie Theakston: “I did offer to meet him for a coffee months ago, he didn’t reply to my text. What can I say?”

She has subsequently made multiple jabs at Schofield, including putting a strongman arm emoji on her social media profile following news of his departure from This Morning.

A source close to Amanda said: “This was such a long time ago and Amanda has completely moved on with her life and is loving life on the country’s biggest breakfast show. It’s sad that Phillip is still thinking about this but, to set the record straight, Amanda maintains that it was very much down to Phillip that she didn’t get the job and was told that at the time.

The source added: “Phillip is talking about everyone else rather than himself, always pointing the finger and blaming other people for his downfall.”

A source close to Eamonn has insisted that he and Ruth always rated very highly “to the point where all the newcomers after them were nowhere near.” The source added that ratings “was not the reason for their exit from the show.” But an ITV source told the Mirror that the Monday to Thursday ratings were higher and that “Alison and Dermot are more popular.”

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