Amanda Holden STOPS radio show and tells off co-star for raising Phillip Schofield feud
AMANDA Holden temporarily brought her radio show to a halt after co-star Jamie Theakston mentioned her rival Phillip Schofield.
The Heart Breakfast hosts, both 55, had Brit Awards host Jack Whitehall in the studio ahead of Sunday’s ceremony at the Manchester Co-op Live.
The banter was innocent enough, with Amanda quizzing Jack about the type of socks he’s planning on wearing.
Suggesting he won’t be going for the type of outlandish pair favoured by his dad, Michael, Jack said: “Well, I don’t want to be upstaged by a sock.”
Amanda turned to Jamie and said: “Well, Jamie, I rest my case.”
Unsure why she was sticking the boot in about socks, he replied: “What are you talking about? Children’s television? That wasn’t me, that was Phillip Schofield.”
READ MORE ON AMANDA HOLDEN
Amanda then took a dig at her long-running rival, saying: “Oh God, please, let’s not mention that name on air, it’s a family show!”
Phillip and Amanda’s feud is rumoured to have begun when she was passed over for a hosting gig in favour of Phil’s first choice, Rochelle Humes.
Amanda had been tipped to stand in for Holly Willoughby on This Morning during her time away hosting I’m A Celebrity in 2018 but The Saturdays star Rochelle booked the job instead.
A former daytime TV executive told The Sun at the time: “Phillip actively campaigned for Rochelle to get the job despite Amanda being more experienced — and having been told privately she’d got the gig.
“She feels Phil unfairly used his powers of persuasion. She was told he’d chosen Rochelle because she was easier to ‘manage’ on air – and understandably that incensed her.”
An ITV spokesperson denied the claims at the time and released a statement of support for Phillip.
The statement read: “Presenter line-ups on This Morning change regularly. Final decisions are made by producers, not presenters.
“Phillip is a much-loved broadcaster and part of the ITV family. He’s a consummate professional and held in high regard at ITV.
“Amanda is also held in high regard as a judge on one of our biggest shows.”
Shortly after Rochelle was confirmed as Holly’s replacement, Amanda appeared on This Morning to talk about her work with pregnancy and baby loss charity, Tommy’s.
During an ad break on the October 2018 episode, Amanda reportedly confronted Phil about her suspicions that he had campaigned for Rochelle to replace Holly instead of her.
A source told The Sun: “She made it clear that she felt very let down.
“He was lost for words but didn’t have much time to respond to Amanda’s claims because the show was going back on air.
“Neither of them realised that Amanda could be overheard by most of the team because she was still wearing her mic pack.”
In 2019, Amanda confirmed her and Phillip’s feud to Jamie Theakston on Heart and insisted they’ll never reconcile.
She said she asked to meet Phillip in a bid to clear the air but was ghosted by the star.
“I’ve moved on from it Jamie, you need to move on from it,” she said.
He replied: “You might have moved on but I just wanted to know, is there any more to the story?”
She then revealed: “I did offer to meet him for a coffee months ago, he didn’t reply to my text. What can I say?”
Jamie pushed again: “The olive branch had been extended.”
“Oh, yes,” Amanda replied.
Referring to the famous photo of Katy Perry and Taylor Swift hugging while dressed up as fast food after they’d resolved their own feud, Jamie asks Amanda if there will be a “burger and fries moment” – but Amanda said “no”.
Phillip has not directly addressed his rumoured fallout with Amanda but, prior to the alleged end of their friendship, he had revealed what it was like to work with her.
In 2015, he spoke to Heat magazine about his former co-worker, saying: “She kept me on my toes.
“She has a faulty edit button and she forgets she’s on the telly, which is enormously endearing and funny, but occasionally quite scary.”
He also appeared to reference the rumours surrounding his relationship with Amanda after The Sun reported that she had made a formal complaint to ITV boss Kevin Lygo about the This Morning hiring incident.
Phil addressed the speculation on Twitter, saying: “The end of another really sad weekend.
“When you try for 35 years to be the easiest, most fun person to work with and you read such hurtful and wildly untrue stories from nameless ‘sources’.
“Obviously I’ll take it on the chin.. .I just hope you know me better.”