Ruth Langsford appears to make a dig at Phillip and Holly
Ruth Langsford appears to make a dig at ‘feuding’ Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on Loose Women – after her husband Eamonn Holmes laid into the This Morning co-stars
Ruth Langsford appeared to become the latest star to take a dig at a feuding Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on Tuesday’s episode of Loose Women.
The presenter, 63, was leading the panel alongside Kéllé Bryan, Coleen Nolan and Janet Street-Porter.
The show came shortly after Phillip, 61, and Holly, 42, returned to ITV’s This Morning once again on Tuesday amid claims of a behind-the-scenes collapse of the duo’s friendship.
As the Loose Women team discussed blind dates, Ruth asked the others: ‘Would you trust your friends to set you up on a blind date?’
Coleen was quick to respond, saying: ‘I would trust all of you to pick a blind date. Well, would I? Yes. I would! I would actually.’
Uh oh: Ruth Langsford, 63, appeared to become the latest star to take a dig at a feuding Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on Tuesday’s Loose Women
Tense: Phillip and Holly have continued to host This Morning this week but have not addressed their feud on air
Ruth seemingly couldn’t resist an opportunity to reference Phillip and Holly’s ongoing fallout.
She jibed: ‘Well, we might be feuding at the time, so…’
Her comment sent the rest of the panel and the studio audience roaring with laughter.
Ruth went on to joke: ‘If we’re feuding we might pick a really horrible one!’
It comes after her husband Eamonn Holmes launched a blistering attack on his former This Morning co-stars on Monday morning.
Amid crisis talks at ITV over the future of its two top stars, Eammon called the partnership ‘a broken fit’ as he discussed the fallout on his GB News show.
Referring to Sunday night’s BAFTA TV Awards, at which neither Phil nor Holly made an appearance, Eammon quipped: ‘I think there should have been a special award for Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby for best actors.’
‘They may or may not be together on the telly today. He’s brought in lawyers, she’s brought in a PR team. The public surely will suss that there’s no chemistry, that it’s a broken fit between the two of them and that This Morning does not depend on who presents it.’
Ex colleagues: Eamonn co-hosted the ITV daytime show with his wife Ruth Langsford from 2006 until August 2021, until being ‘dropped’ by ITV
Awkward: ITV are said to be crisis talks, while Holly and Phil failed to address their fallout for a second day on air
Continuing, the ex This Morning star insisted: ‘It’s an institution, it will carry on no matter who presents it and anyone can check the viewing figures, there’s no difference between whether they present it or anyone else.’
Eamonn co-hosted the ITV daytime show with his wife Ruth from 2006 until August 2021, until being ‘dropped’ by ITV and replaced by Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary.
And on Monday Lorraine also broke her silence on the feud, revealing she believes it would be ‘so sad’ if the partnership came to an end.
Speaking about what she feels the future holds for the pair, Lorraine told The Sun: ‘Do you know what they were back today and it was business as usual and everyone is just getting on with it.’
She continued: ‘I would be sad if they left the show but I don’t think that is ever likely to happen and I think they’re just getting on with it.’
Phillip and Holly have yet to address their feud on air and have continued to broadcast their show as usual – despite losing 170,000 viewers in a week.
Figures revealed Monday’s episode had an average of 726,720 people watching compared to 894,000 on the same day last week. Peak viewership was also significantly down at 914,000 compared to 1.058million on May 8.
By contrast, the duo pulled in 1.3m viewers for their 2022 Christmas show and an average of 1.4m in the first four weeks of 2021.
Viewers watching today’s episode described the atmosphere as ‘awkward’, with one tweeting: ‘I haven’t watched the show for many months. I thought I’d watch today’s but it’s clear the partnership is strained.’
Insiders have described Phil as ‘increasingly withdrawn’ on set, with one telling The Mirror: ‘He seems down and spends a lot of time in his dressing room. We’re worried about him.’
He has also appeared to ‘quit’ social media amid the fallout – as his last post was seen on May 7, where he shared a video during a trip to Paris.
It comes as Holly wrote a newsletter for her wellbeing brand Wylde Moon which revealed the star in a reflective mood.
‘The older I get, the more I appreciate how daunting the concept of time passing can be,’ she mused. ‘I can always remember my nan saying things like ‘wait ’til you get to my age…then it really starts flying by’– and I now I really get it.
‘If this resonates with you, I wanted to share some advice one of my friends gave me when we were talking about this exact thing.
‘She told me that instead of worrying how quickly it’s going, we should look at things differently and appreciate that with every moment (big or small) that passes, we’re creating a future filled with joy, love, and endless possibility.’
Holly and Phil, who are embroiled in one of the biggest fallouts in television, did not address their rift when they returned to This Morning on Monday, but viewers described them as ‘awkward’ and ’embarrassing’.
On Tuesday, a source suggested that public scepticism of the pair’s attempt to project a united front could force ITV bosses to make a ‘difficult decision’.
‘This Morning’s relationship with its viewers is built on trust, and they have to believe that Holly and Phil’s friendship, and what they’re watching, is real,’ the source told The Mirror.
The insider suggested that if this was no longer believed then ITV could be forced into replacing Phil with someone else.
United front: Sources close to the pair insist the programme will continue to run smoothly, despite the feuding behind the scenes
Holly and Phil were back on screens for the first time on Monday since news of their feud broke, but failed to address claims that their relationship is at breaking point and that they barely speak off camera.
Phil is trying to ‘tough out’ the ongoing row after it emerged he had called in his own lawyers over the fallout with his co-presenter, sources have revealed. He has also employed a new PR man to help improve his press coverage.
Senior figures at ITV called a crisis meeting following a wave of negative social media feedback about yesterday’s show.
After seeing the reaction on Twitter, with viewers panning both Ms Willoughby, 42, and Schofield, 61, ITV bosses are pondering what to do next.
One source told the Daily Mail: ‘Social media is used as a barometer to see what the public think. Those in charge were left no under no illusion that it was a total disaster.
‘It was painful for the This Morning team to work on and it was just as painful for them to watch.
‘There was a meeting afterwards to discuss how it went that went on for some time. To be honest, everyone was just so relieved to get it over with, but even if the show does continue to go on for some time, it will continue to be a massive headache.’
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