Carol Vorderman on who could replace Phillip Schofield on This Morning
Carol Vorderman has revealed who she thinks will replace Phillip Schofield on This Morning.
Television presenter Phillip, 61, announced his departure from the ITV programme last Saturday before he sensationally confessed to the Mail on Friday he’d had an affair with a young male colleague on the show.
Phillip has now resigned from ITV and will not host what was his last remaining TV appointment, the British Soap Awards, and has been dropped by his agents at YMU ‘with immediate effect’.
The broadcaster left This Morning amid reports of a feud between him and his former co-host Holly Willoughby, 42, with Holly taking two weeks off from the daytime show before returning on June 5 with other members of the ITV family.
And, during an appearance on the BBC’s Have I Got News for You on Friday, Carol, 62, hinted at who would permanently replace Phillip alongside Holly, with the star claiming it would be Alison Hammond.
Prediction: Carol Vorderman claimed Alison Hammond would permanently replace Phillip Schofield on This Morning during an appearance on Have I Got News For You on Friday (Carol pictured on the show)
Statement: Television presenter Phillip quit the ITV programme last Saturday before he sensationally confessed to the Mail on Friday he’d had an affair with a young male colleague
Former Countdown regular Carol appears every other Friday on This Morning do discuss various topics.
When her Have I Got News For You team captain Ian Hislop put it to her she could replace Phillip, Carol said: ‘No! Probably Holly and Alison, I would have thought.’
Host Steph McGovern asked Carol: ‘Is that where your money is?’, she responded: ‘That’s where I’d put my money.’
Alison currently hosts the show every Friday alongside Dermot O’Leary.
Phillip stepped down last weekend after more than 20 years on the airwaves and confirmed the affair in a statement to the Mail on Friday.
He has resigned from ITV and will not host the British Soap Awards and has been dropped by his agents at YMU ‘with immediate effect’.
In a groveling statement, the former ITV presenter said: ‘I am making this statement via the Daily Mail, to whom I have already apologised personally for misleading, through my lawyer who I also misled, about a story [sic] which they wanted to write about me a few days ago.
‘The first thing I want to say is: I am deeply sorry for having lied to them, and to many others about a relationship that I had with someone working on This Morning.
Regular: While Alison currently hosts the show every Friday alongside Dermot O’Leary, Carol says Alison will be a permanent fixture on the show’s sofa alongside Holly Willoughby
On air: Former Countdown regular Carol appears every other Friday on This Morning do discuss various topics (Carol and Gyles Brandreth seen on the show this month)
‘I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning.
‘Contrary to speculation, whilst I met the man when he was a teenager and was asked to help him to get into television, it was only after he started to work on the show that it became more than a just a friendship.
‘That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over…
‘I am painfully conscious that I have lied to my employers at ITV, to my colleagues and friends, to my agents, to the media and therefore the public and most importantly of all to my family. I am so very, very sorry, as I am for having been unfaithful to my wife…
‘I am resigning from ITV with immediate effect, expressing my immense gratitude to them for all the amazing opportunities that they have given me.
‘I will reflect on my very bad judgement in both participating in the relationship and then lying about it.’
An ITV Spokesperson said on Friday evening: ‘We are deeply disappointed by the admissions of deceit made tonight by Phillip Schofield.
‘The relationships we have with those we work with are based on trust. Philip made assurances to us which he now acknowledges were untrue and we feel badly let down.
On a break: Holly is currently taking two weeks off from This Morning before returning on June 5 with other members of the ITV family (Phillip and Holly seen together during his last episode of This Morning on Thursday 18 May 2023)
‘We accept his resignation from ITV and therefore can confirm that he will not be appearing on ITV as had previously been stated.’
Phillip’s extraordinary statement concludes weeks of increasingly fevered speculation in both the TV industry and the wider country about the future of his career, following his sudden departure from the This Morning sofa earlier this month.
His exit from ITV apparently scotches plans for the ‘prime time’ show he was allegedly offered by the network as consolation for leaving This Morning after more than 20 years on the show.
He had been due to present the prestigious British Soap Awards next week – a role he had performed since 2006. His statement confirms he will no longer do so.