GB News star Eamonn Holmes has hit out at Phillip Schofield ahead of his TV comeback, saying he is ‘very proud to have thrown him under the bus‘.
While discussing Schofield’s much-criticised television comeback on Channel 5 show Cast Away, Holmes, 64, made his feelings clear.
As co-host Isobel Webster revealed on Monday’s GB News Breakfast that Schofield claimed he was ‘thrown under the bus’, Holmes was quick to reply: ‘Well if I’m one of the people who threw him under the bus I’m very proud to have done it…
‘This man is addicted to fame, absolutely addicted to fame.’
He later added that Schofield ‘deserves to be in exile’.
Eamonn Holmes said Phillip Schofield ‘deserves to be in exile and is addicted to fame’ in furious rant on GB News on Monday
Phillip is set to tell his side of the story on his new Channel 5 show Cast Away which will air on Monday night at 9pm
In his much-criticised television comeback on Channel 5 programme Cast Away, Schofield refers to himself as the ‘shamed, disgraced Philip Schofield, who had an affair’.
The 62-year-old said: ‘Strangely, I think another TV presenter or two might have done exactly the same thing. Difference is heterosexual. It’s not an unusual thing in the gay world for there to be a difference in age groups.’
‘That’s not that unusual in the straight world, but if that had been the case with me and it had been a woman. Pat on the back. Well done, mate.’
Schofield said that he ‘has regrets’ and acknowledges he ‘got something wrong’ and ‘hurt the people’ around him.
‘I don’t know what price you’re supposed to pay and whether the price you’re paying is necessarily proportionate,’ he adds.
Hitting back, a source at the channel said: ‘It’s a stupid thing for Phil to say, and it is just not true. Phil lied to his colleagues, his bosses and his friends about it, it wouldn’t have mattered if it was a woman or a man.’
They add that Schofield is unlikely to work with the channel again despite his hints that he had been approached to appear on their reality show, I’m A Celeb. One source said: ‘He lied to us, it would be really, really difficult.’
In the programme, which airs from Monday, Schofield takes aim at a trio of his former ITV colleagues, saying: ‘I think there are only three s**ts.’
He pointed out that one was a ‘coward who never stepped up in queue gate,’ while another ‘is a coward because they never stepped up when I was being battered by that one journalist who thought I’d got them fired.’
Eamonn failed to hide his true feelings live on air last week after it was announced Phillip is set to make his TV comeback.
The presenter was hosting GB News as usual during the news bulletin and while the Irish broadcaster didn’t speak on the matter, his reaction said it all as he scoffed at the announcement.
His co-host Isabel Webster introduced the segment to an incredibly negative reception from the panel as GP Dr Renee Hoenderkamp fumed: ‘Is this not just the chance for a narcissist to have more me time on screen?
‘I don’t want to know his story, I’m not interested in it. I know that he’s a celeb and people do seem to lap up any news, whether it’s good or bad but I think it’s time maybe he stayed on the island.’
Agreeing, former Home Office Minister Norman Baker argued: ‘So what? I don’t want to know about it, I’m not interested in it.
‘Why is The Sun giving two pages to it? I suppose it sells papers but really, is that the most important thing in the papers?’
Attempting to provide some balance to the discussion, while Eamonn remained silent, Isabel continued: ‘Well, he was one of our most high-profile presenters in the country, he was married and he had two children when the scandal emerged.
‘He lost all of his TV work including Dancing On Ice, he fell out with his one time best friend and co-host Holly Willoughby, who also quite frankly, didn’t she lose her job off the back of it all?’
As Norman sarcastically hit back: ‘My heart bleeds’, Eamonn couldn’t help but let out a laugh as he poked fun at Phillip Schofield’s plight.
The broadcaster was then heard adding: ‘Very good’ before the conversation was steered elsewhere.
Eamonn’s reaction will come as no surprise to the public after the pair’s long-running bitter feud.
Phillip left ITV‘s This Morning in May 2023 after admitting to having a relationship with a much younger male colleague.
And at the time Eamonn described his colleague as a ‘chief narcissist’ who didn’t know the names of any of his staff.
The presenter, 64, was hosting GB News as usual and while he didn’t speak on the matter, he scoffed at the announcement (pictured together on This Morning in 2013)
As former Home Office Minister Norman Baker sarcastically hit back: ‘My heart bleeds’, Eamonn couldn’t help but let out a laugh as he poked fun at Phillip Schofield’s plight
The broadcaster was then heard adding: ‘Very good’ before the conversation was steered elsewhere
He also called him ‘delusional’ and ‘a liar’ after the under-fire host issued a statement insisting there had been ‘no toxicity’ at the daytime show.
Phillip’s new Channel 5 show Cast Away will air across three nights from Monday September 30 to Wednesday October 2, in three 60 minute installments.
In a newly released trailer the broadcaster is seen breaking down in tears as he says the scandal around his departure from This Morning ‘destroyed’ him in a newly released trailer.
It will be the first time Schofield has been on TV since leaving This Morning amid a scandal, which dominated the headlines for months, led to the breakdown of his friendship with co-presenter Holly Willoughby and ‘devastated’ his wife Steph.
Eamonn – a broadcasting institution of over five decades – has known Phillip for most of his professional life. They began working together on This Morning in 2006 when Eamonn joined the programme four years after his rival.
The men were never close, but appreciated each other’s broadcasting styles and worked professionally alongside each other, according to insiders.
But all that changed in 2019, when Eamonn’s now estranged wife and This Morning co-host Ruth Langsford filed an official complaint against Phillip.
While working on Loose Women, Ruth was snubbed by Phillip when she was cut off mid-link while explaining what was coming up on the show during a mini-segment on This Morning.
Later in November 2021, Eamonn and Ruth were controversially axed from the show after 15 years and replaced on the Friday show by Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond.
Eamonn Holmes, Ruth Langsford, Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield used to be the faces of This Morning (pictured in 2020) before relations turned sour
Eamonn later described the statement as ‘delusional’, adding: ‘Believe me Pip if ur looking for a fight u have picked on the wrong person’
Eamonn was particularly aggrieved about being let go by ITV, claiming he was never given an accurate reason.
His culling was made even more frustrating by his belief Phillip had been given unwavering support by ITV, despite his behaviour off set, a belief shared by Phillip’s former co-host Fern Britton and Amanda Holden, who briefly hosted This Morning alongside him in 2015, while Holly was on maternity leave.
The incident confirmed Eamonn’s belief that Phillip had constantly been feted despite his poor behaviour behind the scenes, sources claimed.
Following his move to GB News, Eamonn appeared less restrained in his public criticism of Phillip and Holly, with the star liking a meme that mocked the pair for ‘jumping the queue’ at the Queen’s lying in state last year.
