[AaronTV]

So the suspicion there was more to come in the Sunday papers today ultimately wasn’t correct, so what was Schofield actually sacked for? The speculation alone?

I see it’s now Holly in the firing line - the front page of the Mail, for example, suggesting Holly gave ITV an ultimatum and was ready to quit if Phil didn’t. Now we have no idea whether it’s even true, but Holly declining to do anything supportive for Phil and now appearing to have elbowed him out is not a great look. Despite having his very vocal critics, Phil was hugely popular and helped build a solid and very profitable audience for a long time.

If Team Holly can’t plug these negative stories, is she now going to have to quit? It’s not exactly a high bar ITV have set here.

I do think unlike other programs that have relied on temporary replacements, they need to get a permanent co-host in as soon as possible. With Piers and GMB, for example, Piers only
did 3 days a week, already took extended breaks with a large team of fill ins to cover, and Ben Shephard was able to naturally fill the gap for the initial few weeks. Piers and Susanna’s chemistry was also built on them bickering and disliking one another.

With This Morning, Phil and Holly are (well, were) the show. The whole thing was built around their friendship and how long Phil had been there, so the longer Holly is sat with a different randomer each week, it’s a further reminder of the whole affair and only fuels the tabloid speculation further.