The presenters became the subject of much discussion following the scandal (Picture: ITV News)
Phillip Schofield has set the record straight on the Queue Gate scandal, saying he was left ‘shell-shocked’.
His comments come following a bombshell interview this evening, where the former This Morning presenter denied allegations of grooming.
Phillip and Holly Willoughby were hit with a wave of backlash last year after claims they ‘jumped’ the line to see the late Queen lying in state.
They were later pressured into doing an on-air apology on This Morning to thousands of angered viewers.
Speaking tonight, Phillip revealed the impact the scandal had on both him and Holly.
He told the Sun: ’I don’t ever throw anyone under the bus, but I have a very good instinct for these things and I knew it was a bad thing to do.
‘We were texting each other backwards and forwards afterwards. I said to Holly, “I knew I should have gone with my gut,” and she said, “I know”.’
‘But we were shell-shocked, the both of us, completely shell-shocked by the reaction.
Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby were forced to apologise on air following the Queue Gate scandal (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
‘What are the two things you don’t screw up? The Queen and a queue.’
Phillip went on to say there had been no queue-skipping involved.
He continued to the Sun: ‘There was no jumping of the queue. We went and spoke to everyone in the queue. We went out and met everyone in the queue then walked all the way around the building, and went into the press centre with your accreditation.
‘That got messed up because the production team didn’t want to give either of our emails out, so they used work emails which obviously didn’t match up with who we are.’
Phillip also said the Queue Gate scandal wasn’t what caused his and Holly’s relationship to deteriorate.
He instead confirmed it was the conviction of his brother Timothy, following a child sex abuse trial, that marked a downturn in their friendship.
In his tell-all interview with the Sun tonight, Phillip spoke out for the first time since confessing to an affair with a much younger male colleague at This Morning.
The affair happened while he was married to his wife and before coming out as gay in 2020.
Schofield, 61, resigned from ITV with ‘immediate effect’ due to lying about the relationship, issuing an apology to his family, colleagues, and bosses.
He has kept a low profile since his tell-all statement was sent to the Daily Mail last week, sharing just one Instagram Story since and staying with his mother in Cornwall.
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‘What are the two things you don’t screw up? The Queen and a queue.’