All eyes are on Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield right now, as claims over a supposed feud between the best friends show no sign of abating.
The famous hosts of ITV’s This Morning are said to have fallen out and allegedly “barely speak” behind the scenes.
Phil has publicly denied the reports once, but neither of them have addressed the supposed rift while presenting the show.
As headlines about the state of their relationship continue, here’s a look back at their extensive career together.
2006: Holly and Phil work together on Dancing On Ice for the first time
Holly had worked on CBBC At The Fame Academy and Feel The Fear before securing her first major primetime TV gig on the skating show in 2006.
At this time, Phil was already a household name for his work on Going Live! and the CBBC broom cupboard, before joining the This Morning team alongside Fern Britton in 2002.
Holly would reveal years later (in 2017) that she was slightly intimidated by her co-star at first.
“I was a bit scared when I first met him but that changed very quickly when I realised he was basically me in the male form,” she said on the Jonathan Ross Show.
2009: Phil pushes for Holly to get This Morning gig
When his former co-host Fern decided to leave the show, Holly was Phil’s first choice to join him following their success on Dancing On Ice.
In 2017, The Sun quoted him as saying: “We had such fun on DOI that when the position became vacant on This Morning, I said ‘Holly is the only person I want. If I can’t have her I am not playing’.”
2016: Phil and Holly go viral after their NTA win
Phil and Holly regularly make headlines for their giggles, innuendos and antics while hosting This Morning, but in 2016 they famously presented while in the same clothes as the night before.
The pair had just won another National Television Award when they got into one of their many laughing fits live on air, which went viral the world over.
2018 and 2019: Feud rumours begin
In November 2018, Holly was drafted in to present I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! with Declan Donnelly while Ant McPartlin took time out of the spotlight – and their series went on to win a Bafta in May 2019.
Around this time, reports emerged claiming Phil was “jealous” of Holly’s success on the show – although he denied them.
The Sunday Times magazine then ran a front cover which dubbed his co-star “Queen Holly” and claimed she had “eclipsed” Phil, becoming “Britain’s hottest TV star” – a move which tabloids speculated prompted a “bust-up” between them.
This was strongly denied, with Phil calling Holly “the sister I never had”.
2020: Phil comes out as gay
Writing in an Instagram post, Phil revealed on February 7, 2020 that he was gay, before joining Holly for a live interview on the This Morning sofa.
He later told the BBC’s The One Show that he “wouldn’t have wanted anyone else” by his side apart from Holly.
“I couldn’t have done that with anyone else, I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else to be sitting by the side of me,” he said.
“We’d had a big lead up to that moment and Holly was one of the first people that I told and she’s such a wise person. She’s got such a calm, sensitive aura to her.”
The presenter also shut down the rumours from the year before about a supposed feud with Holly.
He told Chris Evans’ How To Wow podcast in October 2020: “There was nothing that was being said that had any truth in it whatsoever. There was no and there has never been a feud with Holly.
“When they’re writing ‘Phillip and Holly and feud’ we couldn’t have been closer because I’d told her my secret and she was holding me together at work.”
2022: Holly and Phil face backlash over the queue to see the Queen lying-in-state
The presenters were seen inside Westminster Hall visiting the Queen’s coffin as part of her lying in state in September 2022.
The queue for members of the public to pay their respects reportedly stretched on for more than 20 hours at times – but while they attended as members of the press to report on the event, their perceived ‘jumping of the queue’ caused significant backlash.
This Morning bosses defended the stars, insisting they had not jumped the queue, reiterating they attended for a segment of the ITV show.
The duo later spoke about the backlash, saying in a voiceover that in their capacity as broadcasters and journalists, they were permitted to access the hall.
Holly said: “None of the broadcasters and journalists there took anyone’s place in the queue and no one filed past the Queen. We of course respected those rules.
“However, we realise that it may have looked like something else, and therefore totally understand the reaction. Please know that we would never jump a queue.”
2023: Reports of a rift return
On May 10, 2022, The Sun published a story claiming that Holly and Phil now “barely speak” outside of the show.
Phil tried to dismiss the claims by telling the newspaper: “The last few weeks haven’t been easy for either of us.
“As I have said before, Holly is my rock. We’re the best of friends — as always, she is an incredible support on screen, behind the scenes and on the phone.
“Holly has always been there for me, through thick and thin. And I’ve been there for her.”
Phil referred to the support Holly gave him after he took time off from his presenting job in April during a criminal trial for his brother, Timothy, who has since been found guilty of 11 child sexual abuse charges.
He later condemned his brother and welcomed the verdict in a public statement on Instagram, writing: “As far as I am concerned, I no longer have a brother.”
Holly was later absent from the show for a week upon Phillip’s return, after she contracted shingles.
Following her on-screen comeback on 24 April, it was just over two weeks before headlines first emerged about the pair’s supposed feud, which eventually led to Phillip’s statement. However, Holly and ITV are both yet to comment on the state of the presenters’ relationship or their future on the show after being contacted by HuffPost UK.
The pair will be presenting together until mid July, when they will both take their annual six-week summer break.
Reports have suggested that they are allegedly holding talks with ITV to discuss what do to come September, when they will be due to return to the sofa.