Now bookies say punters are backing Phillip Schofield to appear on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! in bid to salvage his career after scandal
- Aspers have predicted Schofield will try win back public support in the jungle
Bookies have tipped Phillip Schofield to take part in this year’s I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! in a bid to salvage his career after he admitted lying about his relationship with a much younger ITV colleague.
Punters at Aspers bookmakers back Schofield, 61, to appear in the jungle offering odds of even money that the disgraced This Morning presenter will follow in the footsteps of former health secretary Matt Hancock to try and win back public support.
Mr Hancock entered the jungle in an attempt to improve the public’s opinion of him after he infamously broke his own social distancing guidelines during the pandemic when he was caught on camera having in a clinch with Gina Coladangelo.
A spokesman for Aspers said: ‘Customers are jumping on the idea of Schofield going for a no-holds barred rumble in the jungle, probably tears and all, to try and fix his reputation. Stranger things have happened.’
The prediction from the super-casino’s betting shop in Stratford, East London, comes as ITV has been plunged into meltdown following a flurry of revelations regarding Schofield’s secret affair.
Bookies have tipped Phillip Schofield to take part in this year’s I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here in a bid to salvage his career that ended in scandal
Aspers bookmakers back Schofield, 61, to appear in the jungle in a bid to win back public support, following the footsteps of former health secretary Matt Hancock
Today former This Morning host Eamonn Holmes, who tonight vows to ‘tell the truth’ on the scandal surrounding the programme, branded Schofield as ‘delusional’ after the under-fire star issued a statement insisting that there had been ‘no toxicity’ behind the scenes of the programme.
READ HERE: ‘A handful of people have a grudge against me’: Phillip Schofield hits back at growing accusations of ‘toxic’ culture and bullying on This Morning
As the show returned to screens today with Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond standing in as hosts, Schofield attacked those stars who claimed there had been a toxic culture behind the scenes of the programme.
Breaking his silence for the first time since he admitted lying about the affair, he wrote on Instagram: ‘Now I no longer work on This Morning I am free to say this.
‘I hope you have noticed that it’s the same handful of people with a grudge against me or the show who seem to have the loudest voice.
‘This Morning IS the best show to work on, with the best people. In all the years I worked there there was no toxicity. You can listen to those persistently loud voices if you like.
‘But the thousands of guests over the years, thousands of staff and crew, hundreds of presenters and contributors all know it, it IS a family of wonderful, talented, kind, hard working people.’
Holmes – who used to present This Morning alongside his wife Ruth Langford before moving to GB News – however, released a scathing response to the statement, said that if Schofield was ‘looking for a fight’ he had ‘picked on the wrong person.
The 63-year-old Tweeted: ‘Schofield has just put out a delusional statement. Like Holly he puts it on Insta Stories so if it goes wrong there is no record after 24 hrs. I’m reluctant to give the liar any more publicity but believe me Pip if u r looking for a fight , u have picked on the wrong person!’
Today, as This Morning returned to screens with stand-in hosts Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond, Schofield attacked those who claimed there had been a toxic culture behind the scenes of the programme
Eamonn Holmes, who tonight vows to ‘tell the truth’ on the scandal surrounding the programme, branded Schofield as ‘delusional’ after the under-fire star issued a statement insisting that there had been ‘no toxicity’ at the programme
Tonight Dan Wootton will interview Holmes in a two hour interview to reveal the ‘real story’ behind Schofield’s scandal
Timeline of the Phillip Schofield scandal
September 2022 – Schofield and Willoughby are criticised for failing to queue for the Queen’s Lying in State. ITV insisted the pair were there to report from the venue.
April 2023 – Phillip is absent from This Morning for two weeks while his brother Timothy, 54, is tried at Exeter Crown Court for sexually abusing a teenage boy.
April 3 – Timothy is found guilty of ’emotionally blackmailing’ the teenager into performing sex acts and watching porn with him.
May 10 – Reports emerge Phillip and Holly are ‘barely speaking’, but a day later he issues a statement calling Holly ‘my rock’.
May 15 – The pair present a united front while presenting This Morning, but rumours of a feud continue. The pair are said to have fallen out due to Phillip’s failure to warn Holly of his brother’s trial.
May 20 – Schofield announces he is stepping down from This Morning with ‘immediate effect’.
May 22 – Stand-in presenters Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond pay tribute to their former colleague as ‘one of the best live television broadcasters this country has ever had’.
May 26 – Schofield releases a statement admitting he’d had an affair with a ‘much younger’ colleague but then lied about it.
May 27 – Holly blasts Phillip for lying to her.
May 28 – This Morning’s former resident doctor Dr Ranj Singh hits out at the show’s ‘toxic’ culture.
May 29 – Schofield releases a statement denying claims the show had a toxic culture, only for Eamonn Holmes to slam him as ‘delusional’ on Twitter.
Tonight in a two hour no-holds-barred interview with GB News presenter and MailOnline columnist Dan Wootton, Holmes has vowed to tell the truth about ‘the real story’ behind the Phillip Schofield scandal.
The exclusive interview, that will take place between 9pm and 11pm, will reveal ‘the real story about Phillip Schofield, his young staff member lover, ITV’s cover up and toxic This Morning’, Dan Wootton Tweeted this afternoon.
Holmes has been a long-standing critic of Schofield, claiming he had ‘snubbed’ a number of people within the television industry.
This included his co-presenter and wife Ruth Langford, who was cut off mid-air by Schofield back in 2019 as she was promoting what was coming up during her mini-segment on This Morning.
Schofield said: ‘Guys, we’re going to have to jump in there and stop you I’m afraid because we’re a bit tight for time at this end. Thank you, Ruth.’
A clearly unimpressed Langsford responded: ‘Well, I only had about two more words to say,’ and looked away from the camera.
Speaking about the incident in the Daily Mail’s Weekend magazine in February 2022, Holmes went public in his condemnation for Schofield, saying his wife is one of many people in the industry to be ‘snubbed’ by the presenter.
He said: ‘Phillip is renowned for snubbing people. He’s very passive-aggressive.
‘It’s up to Ruth to say how she felt, but I was feeling hurt for her. No one would have snubbed me like that.’
He added. ‘I don’t go for presenters who think they have a special privilege or aura or influence.’
ITV is facing an ongoing crisis after Schofield admitted in a statement to the Daily Mail on Friday that he had lied to ITV, his lawyers, talent managers and his co-star Holly Willoughby about his affair with his much younger colleague.
It has led to an increasing number of calls for an independent into inquiry to find out exactly what ITV’s senior bosses knew about Schofield’s relationship with the young man and when they found out.
The broadcaster insists an investigation involving both men did take place as rumours emerged in 2020, however, sources close to Schofield’s former lover claim he was never questioned.
Sources told the Mail the former production assistant insists that ‘he was never asked’ about the romance, while another ITV insider said: ‘Everybody just knew about it.’
ITV insists it carried out an investigation into Schofield’s affair after rumours began in 2020
Eamonn Holmes, his wife Ruth Langsford, Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield used to be the faces of This Morning (pictured in 2020)
One source said: ‘It’s time for some truths to be told now, this has been brushed under the carpet for so long and it has to come to an end.
READ HERE: ‘A handful of people have a grudge against me’: Phillip Schofield hits back at growing accusations of ‘toxic’ culture and bullying on This Morning
‘The younger man has got to the point now where he won’t lie for anyone but actually, he says he was never asked by ITV about any relationship.
‘It is time that people were held to account, or at the very least explain themselves.’
An ITV spokesperson, however, stood firm and said ‘both parties were questioned’.
Executives of the programme have continued to come under further pressure as Dr Ranj Singh, former resident doctor on This Morning, branded the show as having a ‘toxic’ culture of bullying and discrimination.
ITV said it was ‘sorry’ to read Dr Ranj’s post and said ‘an external and independent advisor’ was hired to carry out a review following his complaint.
The spokeperson said: ‘This external review found no evidence of bullying or discrimination.’
And the programme has lost millions of pounds after its main sponsor Arnold Clark announced that it would be ending its contract with This Morning in Autumn as planned.
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