Phil and Holly’s replacements for tomorrow’s This Morning show revealed after show chaos
THIS Morning has confirmed tomorrow’s stand-in hosts following Phillip Schofield’s sudden departure from the show.
Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary will once again return to the sofa to present the daytime favourite in place of Phil and Holly Willoughby.
The pair were drafted in on Monday after Phillip was axed from the ITV1 programme and Holly was announced as having a ‘two-week half term break’ amid the chaos.
Alison, 48, and Dermot, 49, told viewers at the end of the show that they would be seeing viewers again “tomorrow”.
Having just completed a cooking segment with resident chef Clodagh McKenna, Alison said: “On tomorrow’s This Morning, Wham’s Andrew Ridgeley will be live in the studio to reveal how he’s celebrating his 40th anniversary.”
Chipping in, Dermot added: “And money man Martin Lewis is going to help you with your financial concerns.
“We’ll see you tomorrow, goodbye!”
Joining Dermot in waving at the camera, Alison chorused: “See you tomorrow!”
Alison and Dermot have both been tipped to permanently replace Phil and each become one of Holly’s new co-hosts on This Morning.
The pair usually present the Friday instalments of the ITV1 show. They were confirmed as Monday’s replacements for Holly and Phil less than 24 hours before it aired.
But opening the episode, Dermot and Alison were uncharacteristically sombre.
They then tackled Phillip’s exit head on with a tribute to him, keen for his sudden departure to not be an elephant in the room.
But some viewers were baffled by the funereal atmosphere and claimed on Twitter that the hosts looked pained while delivering their words.
Tensions between Phillip and Holly led to the star releasing a shock statement on Saturday, confirming he was stepping back from the This Morning.
The presenting pair saw their once-close relationship crumble in recent weeks with “seismic” summer shake-up predicted.
Phillip took to his social media to confirm that he would be quitting the role after a “difficult” few days.
Overnight, we then revealed Phillip is “completely broken” by his sacking from This Morning.
He will get six months’ wages to soften the blow after ITV decided his feud with Holly was losing too many viewers.
A source said: “Phil has been given his This Morning wages for six months — but if that was meant to make him feel better, it’s just not working.
“Phil feels he has been shown zero respect and he is devastated by how this has played out.
“He thinks the way he was forced to step down was so unjust and he feels completely broken by how this situation has been handled.
“This Morning was Phil’s life and now he feels he has been knifed without proper consultation.
“Phil consulted his mum Pat and his ex-wife Stephanie before agreeing to step back.
“He is incredibly close to them both and wanted to gauge their thoughts.
“Phil also spoke with his daughters, Molly — who is a talent agent at his management company YMU — and Ruby.
“It was only after they’d had these discussions that Phil said he would agree to leave.
“Phil has dedicated over 20 years to that show and for it all to end this way has been incredibly upsetting for him.”
The Sun revealed Phil was told he had lost his job on This Morning just minutes after coming off air on Thursday.
Top brass at ITV decided the situation between him and co-host Holly had become unworkable, with the obvious tension between the pair costing the show almost 200,000 viewers.
Holly, who has worked on This Morning with Phil for 13 years, will stay on as the main presenter and is returning to the show on June 5 after a two-week break.
