How are people reacting to Holly Willoughby’s return to This Morning following Phillip Schofield interview?

As the opening credits began to roll on Monday’s This Morning, a sense of agog hung in the air as Holly Willoughby not only returned from her half term break but also showed her face for the first time since former BFF and co-host Phillip Schofield gave his tell-all interview with the BBC.

Phillip confessed to Amol Rajan before the weekend that he lied about an affair with a younger male colleague and spoke about his mental health following the scandal that saw him leave the ITV show after more than 20 years.

Ahead of Monday’s show running as normal with Josie Gibson alongside Holly on the sofa, the latter made a statement to camera regarding the interview stating:

“Feels very strange sitting here without Phil and I imagine you have been feeling a lot like I have, shaken, troubled, let down, worried for the wellbeing of people on all sides of what has been going on and full of questions.”

Holly added that ‘what unites’ everyone now is a ‘desire to heal and the health and wellbeing of everyone’ before encouraging a new chapter at This Morning.

Viewers gave mixed reactions to Holly’s first statement following the BBC iPlayer interview on Twitter with some criticising the ITV show’s response and calling for it to be axed while others call for audience members to stop the negative comments.

One said: “That felt as fake as the ‘Phil’s such a hero for coming out’ b**ocks a few years back…This Morning, just take this show off air, it’s done,” as another agreed: “Very well staged and it didn’t sound like it came from the heart.”

Other critics made comments such as: “What a load of sh*** basically trying to tell us to move on from it,”, “wow that AI Holly sounded so realistic,” and, “a whine, a few tears then a let’s move on to the next chapter doesn’t cut it.”

However, several Twitter users did respond to the haters saying: “These comments here are horrible. Just a load of f***ing bullies” as well as “Phil didn't just lie to his wife, and #ThisMorning, and ITV, but to Holly too. I do feel sorry for her knowing that. Holly undoubtedly deserves a second chance. It's Phil's scandal not hers.”