Queue-jumping Phillip Schofield dumped from £1m We Buy Any Car deal as petition to sack him from This Morning hits 75K
QUEUE-jumping Phillip Schofield has been dropped as the £1million face of We Buy Any Car.
The company is shooting new ads next week without him and he no longer appears on its website.
Phil, 60, and This Morning co-star Holly Willoughby, 41, faced a huge backlash after jumping the 12-hour line into Westminster Hall to pay respects to the Queen.
A source said: “There’s clearly a feeling in the company that he is not the right fit for the future.”
We Buy Any Car were among brands pilloried when news of Phil and Holly jumping a line across London into Westminster Hall triggered a huge backlash.
Viral memes changing their branding to We Jump Any Queue were shared on social media in swipes at the pair.
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A source said: “The We Buy Any Car ads are among the most regularly shown on telly — everyone knows them and the little tune that goes with it.
“It’s a massive deal, worth seven figures, but next week they’re shooting a new campaign and Phil’s not involved in it.
“There’s clearly a feeling within the company that he’s just not the right fit for the future and his contract will be allowed to expire. It has been a very successful partnership but it’s time for a change.”
The timing of Schofield’s exit comes as a petition calling for him and Holly to be sacked from This Morning has amassed more than 75,000 signatures.
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However, We Buy Any Car last night made clear the decision to part ways with him was not connected to what happened at the Lying-in-State.
Phil and Holly were criticised after being seen on a live feed that streamed the viewing of the Queen’s coffin. Members of the public had queued for up to 12 hours to get into Westminster Hall and there was anger that they had been “fast tracked”.
The duo later recorded an apology that was shown on the ITV show in which Holly, 41, stressed they had been there to film for the programme as working members of the media — but it did little to dampen the public outcry.
It is also understood to have caused disagreements behind the scenes on the show among staffers who believe the high-profile pair are regularly given preferential treatment.
But earlier this week ITV’s chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall stood by the pair saying they were “of course” safe in their jobs presenting the daily lifestyle show.
She added: “Imagine yourself in the eye of a storm like this, where you’re trying to say you’ve done nothing wrong, and all the noise around you is saying that you have.
“It’s difficult to handle. They did have accreditation. Lots of people say they didn’t.
“They were sent by This Morning to do a piece for 20 September, which ran. They were to interview people inside and outside.
“They didn’t displace anyone in the queue. And actually, they’ve been very misrepresented.”
Phillip has app-eared in countless campaigns for We Buy Any Car. Marketing insiders say he has proved the perfect frontman for the brand, which was eager to capitalise on his squeaky-clean daytime TV image to reassure potential customers of their integrity.
He followed James Corden as the voice of their campaigns.
Tongue-in-cheek adverts have attempted to portray Phillip as “the nicest man in Britain” and seen a statue to him erected as “Britain’s most popular man”.
A company spokesman said it was agreed earlier this year that the We Buy Any Car/Phillip Schofield campaign would come to an end after more than five years.
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They stressed: “The decision was made prior to any recent stories regarding Phillip.”
A spokeswoman for Schofield said “We cannot comment on the details of our client’s business.”
Lining up for 'net dig'
WHILE the sight of Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield skipping the queue angered many across the country, Twitter users came up with some hilarious ways to poke fun at the ITV presenters.
In one meme, Phillip was photoshopped from the This Morning sofa and was seen perching on top of the Queen’s coffin as the pallbearers walked into Westminster Abbey for the funeral.
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Elsewhere adverts were transformed into “” branding with Holly and Phillip posing in front of a line of people.
A sketch from the sitcom Mr Bean also mocked Phillip as it showed the character played by Rowan Atkinson hilariously skipping a line of people, captioned: “Phillip Schofield arriving to see the Queen lying-in-state.”
