‘The gloves are off’ say This Morning insiders as Phillip Schofield goes to war with Holly Willoughby

THIS Morning insiders have claimed that Phillip Schofield is set to go to war with ex co-star and former friend Holly Willoughby.

The Sun revealed how Phil, 62, calls Holly “the witch” after they fell out last year amid his departure from This Morning.

It comes after the ex-presenter lashed out at an unnamed trio in his television comeback last week on Channel 5’s Cast Away.

We revealed that Phil’s “three s**ts” are his former co-host Holly and old ITV bosses Martin Frizell and Emma Gormley.

Phil was said to have reached out to Holly during her kidnap ordeal last year, but a source told the Mail that the “gloves are now off”

“Phil was kind then but now his gloves are well and truly off,” they said.

While a friend of Holly’s told the publication: “Phil seems determined to keep going and going on this.

“You just have to remember that Phil lied to a lot of people in his life so why would he be telling the truth now?”

Another insider said that Phil would take pleasure in reminding Holly that he secured her job on This Morning.

“Phil always took the credit for Holly’s success,” they said.

“And boy did he like to tell people that, including Holly.

“She, of course, knew he orchestrated the ­opportunity and was always very grateful, but it was thrown in her face quite a lot.

” How long did Holly have to keep thanking him for?

“But now Phil is coming across as increasingly bitter about the end of his career at ITV and he is totally rewriting history.”

The Sun have reached out to Phil and Holly’s reps for comment.

Phil’s friends told The Sun how he wanted to set the record straight on what he could not say on air — including outing the three people he blames for ending his television career.

They say he believes Holly and their This Morning boss Martin staged an “organised coup” to get him sacked after the jailing of his paedophile brother Timothy.

Phil now brands Holly — once one of his closest friends — as “the witch” who he accused directly of “bringing me down”.

He even uses a hatted hag’s emoji when discussing her with pals if she comes up.

Pals say he also accuses Emma, ITV’s managing director of daytime, of treating him “unfairly” over his departure in May 2023.

A friend said: “Phil’s three s**ts are Holly, Martin and Emma.

“He dislikes Holly so much now he calls her ‘the witch’ when talking about her and sends the emoji to his mates if she comes up.

“Phil believes Holly, Martin and Emma were the reason he was booted from ITV and he thinks they treated him unfairly.

“He messaged Holly and told her, ‘You brought me down.’ He was furious, and still is.”

In the three-parter, Phil claimed he was sacked because of bad publicity around his brother, jailed for 12 years in May last year for sexual offences involving a child.

It was in stark contrast to how his departure played out publicly, with Phil releasing a statement saying he was stepping down after an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a younger show runner.

Phil now believes his fate was sealed when Holly began to distance herself from him for the sake of “her brand”.

Holly has never publicly spoken about Timothy’s crimes but in messages seen after his arrest she told Phil of her shock and said it was “hard to believe”.

A friend said: “Phil feels that he was sacked because of the bad press around his brother. Everyone knew about Tim’s arrest — including Holly.

“They had a backstage make-up room called The Sanctuary at This Morning, where Phil first assembled trusted pals including Holly and told them, tearfully, about his brother. Holly held his hand and was super-kind.

“But Phil feels she distanced herself from it publicly because it was bad for her brand. But she supported Phil and was disgusted by what his brother had done.”

The rift between them spiralled, with Phil later admitting he had lied to Holly about his affair with a younger male colleague.

Holly’s response

Yesterday, Holly shrugged off Phil calling her “the witch” – with pals claiming the TV star “couldn’t care less”.

Holly, 43, has yet to publicly respond to the comments but those close to the star told The Sun she’d never rise to Phil.

A pal added: “Holly isn’t batting an eyelid at this, it’s like she couldn’t care less.

“Phil is coming across as incredibly bitter.

“Holly knows who her friends are and they’re the people she pays attention to.”

ITV exit

Phil had been a presenter on the ITV show since 2002, but was ‘axed’ last year.

Phil revealed he was apparently sacked for his paedophile brother’s crimes.

Timothy Schofield was found guilty last year of 11 counts of child sex abuse.

Before admitting to his affair with a young runner on This Morning, he claims his agent told him a decision had been made to drop him over the publicity of his brother’s trial.

He said on the C5 documentary: “That’s it, it’s done. You’re not going back on Monday. What? Because of what?

“And the thing is, about a week later, I blew my own wheels off with everything else, because I thought the only way to even begin to put this right for everybody is to do a full mea culpa. I came clean about my affair.

“What people don’t realise is, I wasn’t fired from this morning when I admitted lying. It was before. Because of someone I used to call brother. But that is my last story.”