Amanda Holden has dismissed claims she was poking fun at Holly Willoughby in a video she posted on her Instagram account.
On Tuesday morning, the Britain’s Got Talent judge shared a short clip on her Instagram story, which began with her saying: “Hello, it is Tuesday. Are you OK?”
A number of news outlets were quick to suggest that Amanda’s choice of words was a deliberate swipe at Holly, who sparked a viral moment a day earlier when she returned to This Morning for the first time since the scandal around her former co-host Phillip Schofield, and kicked off the show by asking viewers: “Firstly, are you OK? I hope so.”
It was also pointed out that Amanda’s white jumpsuit was not entirely dissimilar to the ensemble Holly sported during her return to This Morning.
However, a representative for the former Cutting It star insisted to the Mirror that Amanda “has always made it clear in the past she has no issues with Holly”.
They added that Amanda’s video has been “taken completely out of context” by the media.
Last month, Amanda did have a rather telling reaction to Phillip’s announcement that he was leaving This Morning, though.
She and Phillip had previously co-hosted This Morning together while Holly was on maternity leave way back in 2015.
And while it seemed the pair got on well enough on screen, it was later reported they’d had a falling out in 2018, amid rumours Phillip had pushed to co-present with Rochelle Humes rather than Amanda when Holly took another break from This Morning.
Since then, Phillip resigned from ITV altogether after admitting to an affair with a younger colleague during his time on the show.
An ITV spokesperson previously said: “ITV can confirm that when rumours of a relationship between Phillip Schofield and an employee of ITV first began to circulate in early 2020 ITV investigated.
“Both parties were questioned and both categorically and repeatedly denied the rumours as did Phillip’s then agency YMU.
“In addition, ITV spoke to a number of people who worked on This Morning and were not provided with, and did not find, any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour.
“Phillip’s statement [...] reveals that he lied to people at ITV, from senior management to fellow presenters, to YMU, to the media and to others over this relationship.”
More recently, ITV has instructed a barrister to carry out an external review of the facts following Phillip’s This Morning exit and subsequent press statements.