Alison Hammond and Dermot OLeary furious over 35 second Phillip Schofield tribute
Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary stepped in to host Monday's This Morning (May 22) following the departure of Phillip Schofield, to whom they paid a short 35-second tribute.
However, the pair are said to have been left "furious" over having to pay tribute to Phillip, following his revelation that he had had an affair with a much younger colleague while working on the show.
Opening the show on Monday, Alison announced: "We can't start today's show without paying tribute to the man who spent the last two decades sitting on the This Morning sofa, Phillip Schofield."
To which Demort added: "Everyone on and off the screen at ITV and This Morning want to say a huge thank you to Phil for what he's done to make this show a success over the last 21 years."
"Quite simply we all know he's one of the best live television broadcasters this country has ever had and we, and all the team, wish him all the best for the future," Alison finished.
Both are now said to be "furious" over having to pay tribute to their former co-worker, with a source telling The Mirror: "Both are furious. The telling thing in all of this is the silence where Phil’s colleagues could have stepped in to back him.
"No one wants to be damaged by association. There is a real shock behind the scenes that such a successful show has been so badly hit by the actions of one presenter.
"The thinking last week was that when it returned after the summer, Phil would not be replaced by one person – but that there’d be a rolling rota on the sofa, much like there is on Good Morning Britain. But now those conversations seem irrelevant."
OK! have contacted representatives for Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary.
At the time Alison and Dermot's tribute was deemed insincere by viewers, with one tweeting: "#thismorning ok turned on just to see the most insincere tribute and send off ever and l am now switching permanently to another daytime programme."
While another wrote: "Wot a load of c**p….that beginning was soooo false & cringe #ThisMorning"
In the days since Phillip stepped down from This Morning her has admitted to having had an affair with a much younger colleague, after rumours had been circulating online for a number of years.
In a statement made to MailOnline, Phillip said that the relationship was "unwise but not illegal" and that the met the man in question "when he was a teenager", and wanted help to get onto television.
Phillip then said: "It was only after he started to work on the show that it became more than just a friendship. That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over."
He also apologised to MailOnline for having "lied" to them about the relationship when the publication approached him before publishing the story earlier this month. He denied the affair at the time.
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