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Holly Willoughby ‘confirms Phillip Schofield’s replacements’ after rumours Rylan would return to show
HOLLY Willoughby "confirmed Phillip Schofield’s replacements", after rumours started that Rylan Clark would return to This Morning.
The presenter, 42, returned from her £8million holiday villa in Portugal to front the crisis-hit show and address the scandal.
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Rumours have begun to swirl that Rylan could be lined up to take over from Phillip.
The radio and TV star has always proved popular on the show, whenever he has acted as a stand-in host.
But it was when Holly delivered her statement about Phillip in the opening few minutes of Monday's This Morning, that fans believe she let slip his "replacements".
Flanked by her stand-in co-host Josie Gibson, Holly put on a brave face to address Phillip's exit in a specially prepared statement at the beginning of the show.
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During the emotional statement, along with Josie's name, she mentioned three other This Morning presenters.
This has led people to think she has "let slip" that these TV stars will act as Phillip's replacements.
After giving an impassionate speech, she ended with: "I hope as we start this new chapter and get back to a place of warmth and magic that this show holds for all of us, then we can find strength in each other.
"From my heart thank you for all of the kind messages. Thank you for being here this morning.
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"Myself, Josie, Alison (Hammond), Dermot (O'Leary) and Craig (Doyle) and every single person who works on this show will continue to work hard every single day to bring you the show we love."
Fans think this a strong hint that these four This Morning stars will each take on the job of co-hosting the show.
The bookies have also given their odds, with Rylan being backed 9/1 to take over from Phillip.
Another notable person Holly failed to mention was Rochelle Humes, 34, who has been one of the few This Morning hosts to publicly support Schofield.
After he announced his resignation from the show on social media, the mum-of-three took to Instagram to share a heartfelt post.
Next to a series of photos of the two of them, she wrote: "I've proudly been part of the This Morning family for almost 10 years and over the last few, it has been an absolute pleasure learning so much from you.
"Thanks for all the lessons - you are a fountain of knowledge and laughter."
Rochelle finished off her message by tagging Phil's Instagram page and adding a loved-up emoji.
Meanwhile, Holly has been absent from the set for the past two weeks — during which time her former pal, 61, has come clean about his affair with a much younger ITV runner.
Phillip, who was married at the time, branded the relationship "unwise but not illegal".
He insisted to The Sun in an exclusive interview that Holly did not know about his affair.
He said: “I’ve lost my best friend. Holly did not know. And she was one of the first texts that I sent to say ‘I am so, so sorry, that I lied to you.’”
A shattered Phillip will reportedly not watch Holly’s return to the show today because it will be too devastating for him, his pals say.
Despite his support and affection for his former co-star, a friend tonight said: “He physically could not watch — he's not there yet.
“Even listening to the opening credits would be hugely triggering.
“His family is being incredibly careful not to have the TV on when he’s in the room to ensure he doesn’t see anything.
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“Of course he is aware Holly is back on air today and he absolutely wanted her to shine, and smash it.
“But he physically could not watch — he is not there yet.”
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