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Holly Willoughby’s statement about Phillip Schofield on This Morning has been met with a mixture of scorn, sympathy and ridicule – with an MP even making fun of her speech.
On Monday June 5, the 42-year-old finally returned to the ITV programme following her former co-host’s exit, saying that she felt ‘shaken’ and ‘let down’ after the 61-year-old admitted to lying about an affair that he had with a younger runner on the show.
Holly began her message to her viewers by saying: ‘Right, deep breath. Firstly, are you ok? I hope so.’
Her address has been compared to a scene in the fictional TV drama The Morning Show, when Jennifer Aniston’s character speaks about her colleague – played by Steve Carell – leaving his role, stating: ‘And to you at home, I understand how you must be feeling because I and the whole team here at The Morning Show are feeling the same way.’
On Tuesday June 6, a Culture, Media and Sport Committee hearing took place to discuss the Draft Media Bill, which was attended by Magnus Brooke, the Group Director of Strategy of Policy and Regulation at ITV.
MP John Nicolson began his line of questioning to Brooke by saying: ‘I suppose I should ask first of all, are you ok?’
Nicolson joined the chorus of viewers deriding the divisive message (Picture: Parliament TV/ITV)
The ITV executive looked bewildered by the question put forward about his wellbeing (Picture: Parliament TV)
‘Am I okay?’ Brooke asked, gesturing towards himself. ‘Yes I’m fine, thank you.’
Nicolson then added: ‘Because I know that’s the question du jour at This Morning.’
Later on during the hearing, when a representative for Channel 4 was being questioned, a politician said: ‘Welcome to this place of warmth and magic’ – another reference to Willoughby’s statement.
Josie Gibson held Willoughby’s hand as she returned to This Morning (Picture: ITV)
Schofield gave a candid interview to the BBC after his exit from This Morning (Picture: BBC)
She said in her message: ‘I hope that we start this new chapter and get back to a place of warmth and magic that this show holds for all of us, we can find strength in each other.’
Several Twitter users found the opening to Nicolson’s question hilarious, describing it as ‘iconic’ and ‘superb trolling’.
‘Should have said “deep breath” first but otherwise outstanding,’ another quipped.
Willoughby returned to This Morning again on Tuesday, after reportedly vowing never to speak about the Schofield scandal again.
She was joined by her co-host Josie Gibson, and will present alongside Craig Doyle later this week.
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV.
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MORE : This Morning immediately ‘loses 200,000 viewers’ following Holly Willoughby’s emotional statement
On Monday, the TV presenter said to viewers: ‘Firstly, are you ok? I hope so.’
