Featured Image Credit: PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo / ITV
Topics: Celebrity, ITV, Phillip Schofield, Piers Morgan, TV and Film, This Morning, UK News, Good Morning Britain
Rhiannon Ingle
Topics: Celebrity, ITV, Phillip Schofield, Piers Morgan, TV and Film, This Morning, UK News, Good Morning Britain
Piers Morgan has come to the defence of Phillip Schofield after insisting he's not an 'evil monster'.
The 58-year-old has shared his verdict on Schofield's recent departure from ITV's This Morning which took place over the weekend (20 May).
Morgan revealed that while he doesn't know the 'full story' behind the abrupt departure, he declared Schofield is not the 'evil monster he's being painted as'.
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Schofield’s last episode on the long-running ITV morning show aired last Thursday (18 May) which he presented alongside his co-presenter Holly Willoughby, who is set to remain on This Morning.
It has been confirmed that Willoughby will co-present with other members of the show's family alongside some new people.
One of the names people were seemingly throwing about as a possible replacement for Schofield - who co-hosted the multi-award-winning show for two decades - includes Morgan, who had a pretty dramatic exit from presenting Good Morning Britain a few years back in 2021.
Taking to Piers Morgan Uncensored yesterday (23 May), the broadcaster declared: "Phillip’s not the evil monster he’s being painted as, nor is he the angel his previously halo-clad reputation suggested."
He continued: "I know a lot of people who loathe him for the way he’s treated them, including my good friends Amanda Holden and Eamonn Holmes.
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"But I also know some of his colleagues, current and past, who speak highly of him and feel genuinely sad that his career is going up in smoke like this."
Morgan went on to claim the situation regarding Schofield's abrupt departure was 'further evidence' of the 'ruthless backstabbing in the world of daytime television'.
He added: "One minute Schofield was the undisputed king of morning TV and fast heading to bona fide national treasure status - the next he’s a dethroned, shamed, vilified, national disgrace and social media laughing stock.
"It’s been brutal to watch, but again, entirely unsurprising."
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The television personality later disclosed: "I don’t know the full story behind Phillip Schofield’s downfall, but where I feel personal empathy with him is over the manner of his sacking.
"I know he’s utterly heartbroken about it because he told me himself," Morgan claimed.
Speaking of his own leave-taking from GMB, Morgan explained: "I, too, was deprived of saying goodbye to my GMB audience and that hurt after putting so much effort into gaining their trust.
"But he can at least console himself with the fact that he got publicly thanked by his employers."
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The official statement on Schofield's exit from ITV’s Director of Television, Kevin Lygo read: "Phillip is hands down one of the best broadcasters of his generation and we thank him for his two decades worth of absolutely terrific television on the This Morning sofa."
Morgan went on to write: "By contrast, I didn’t get a single word of praise or gratitude."
The statement about his own departure from GMB, which Morgan describes as 'Siberia-cold ', reads: "Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain.
"ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add."