23 October 2023 , 16:36
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Things turned a little awkward on This Morning when Jack Whitehall mentioned Phillip Schofield without thinking.
The comedian provoked some worried looks after he dropped the former host's name as he chatted to Dermot O'Leary and Alison Hammond. The 35-year-old was recalling his previous visits to the ITV studio as he enjoyed some shepherd's pie with the stand-in presenters.
He was invited on to try some food and as he chowed down, the new dad sent bosses into a momentary panic. Phil hasn't been mentioned on the daytime programme since Holly Willoughby addressed the scandal surrounding her former co-host back in June, drawing a line under the issue.
Jack Whitehall was chatting with Dermot O'Leary and Alison Hammond (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Jack was asked if it was the first time he's been on to road test food. As he enjoyed his early lunch, he said: "I've never been fed before. I got some caffeinated moisturiser from Holly and Phil once" before jokingly adding: "And Vanessa Feltz sat on me on that sofa!"
The 61-year-old explosively quit This Morning in May after rumours he and 42-year-old Holly were feuding behind the scenes of the ITV show. Eyebrows were raised less than a week later when he admitted to an “unwise, but not illegal” affair with a much younger colleague who had been a staff member on the show.
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Viewers haven't heard Phil be named on referenced since Holly's widely-ridiculed speech this summer. “Right, deep breath,” she said, before asking the audience: “Firstly, are you OK? I hope so.” She went on: “You, me and all of us at This Morning gave our love and support to someone who was not telling the truth. Who acted in a way that they themselves felt that they had to resign from ITV and step down from a career that they loved. That is a lot to process.
“And it’s equally hard to see the toll that it’s taken on their own mental health. I think what unites us all now is a desire to heal for the health and wellbeing of everyone. I hope that as we start this new chapter and get back to a place of warmth and magic that this show holds for all of us, we can find strength in each other.”
Bosses don't want the subject of Phillip Schofield arsing following the scandal (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)After finishing his food, Jack sweetly admitted that he "cried for a solid week" after welcoming his first child, a baby daughter called Elsie, with partner Roxy Horner in September. Jack said of being a first time dad: "I still feel like I'm very much in the trenches, six-and-a-half weeks in, my baby daughter is amazing and a gift, but it is also quite full on!
"People did warn me you get that weird honeymoon period, where I found the first week it was so amazing, it was just so blissful, I was just so overwhelmed but the minute the second week hit... I was Googling boarding schools already!" Later in the chat, Jack said: "I cry at everything.
"I had this awful situation where, just before baby was about to be born, I was watching an episode of Tipping Point and I started crying. I was crying at an episode of Tipping Point because this woman wanted to get enough money to pay for an airfare to go and visit her sister in New Zealand. The jackpot counter went down and..."