‘She quietly started to distance herself’: Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield’s feud ‘began THREE years ago after she severed ties with their talent agents YMU’
Holly Willoughby‘s so-called feud with her longtime pal Phillip Schofield reportedly began three years ago, after she severed ties with their talent agencies.
It comes amid reports that the This Morning co-hosts are ‘not as close as they once were’ and now barely speak off-camera.
But as the feud continues to rumble on with no sign of the presenters stepping down, it has been revealed that the rift may actually have started three years ago, when Holly began to ‘quietly distance’ herself from her longtime friend.
It’s also thought that Phillip was irked when Holly landed a job filling in for Ant McPartlin as the host of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! in 2018.
Holly, 42, and Phillip, 61, plan to take a week off for the half-term break, before returning to the programme on Monday, June 5, according to The Sun.
The Daily Mail has also exclusively revealed that Holly has now lined up Alison Hammond as a replacement for Philip – with ITV thought to be in agreement.
The now tense relationship between the pair reportedly first began over their celebrity talent management agencies.
The co-stars were once part of the same management – YMU Group – before Holly split from them to start her own agency Roxy Management.
However, her tie to her old management became a fraught one as they became embroiled in a legal battle over her future earnings/
The case was settled out of court, with Holly earning £1million from them.
Phillip on the other hand has chosen to stick with them and is even a shareholder – starting a series of divisions between the two.
According to The Sun, he is said to earn £1million from them and is a ‘big player’ in the group.
A source told the newspaper: ‘Holly quietly started to distance herself from Phil back in 2020. The legal issues rumbled on for 18 months but Holly fought for what was right.
‘Ultimately, Phil chose to stay and Holly chose to leave, it wasn’t easy at the time.’
MailOnline has contacted representatives for Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield for comment.
Even earlier, in 2018, Phillip was widely known to be ‘annoyed’ after Holly was chosen to step in for Ant McPartlin to co-host I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here with Declan Donnelly.
While continuing to present This Morning with no Holly, Phillip admitted he wished he was also hosting the jungle show.
This only increased Holly’s success as a break-out star away from her former best friend Phil.
She became the presenter of Take Off With Bradley & Holly on BBC1 and launched her own lifestyle brand Wylde Moon in 2021.
Profitable collaborations followed for the presenter, including with Marks and Spencer, which is thought to have earned her £950,000.
Phil has tried to launch his own side projects – such as gameshow The Cube on ITV – but they have time and time again failed to get off the ground.
