Amanda Holden claims 'people have found the tin opener' on Phillip Schofield rumours
Amanda Holden hasn’t been able to resist weighing in on the most recent Phillip Schofield row, saying “people have found the tin opener”.
This Morning presenter Schofield has been the subject of a number of allegations this year of being difficult to work with, and Holden spoke out about feeling he had sidelined her as a stand-in for Holly Willoughby on the ITV show in favour of Rochelle Humes, who was apparently “easier to manage on air”.
Read more: Amanda Holden calls Phillip Schofield ‘tiny’
Over the weekend, The Sun published further claims that Schofield’s relationship with co-star Willoughby was strained, and that Ruth Langsford had made a complaint about him to TV bosses.
Despite saying she had drawn a line under their spat, Holden went on to give her views on the story during her Monday morning Heart Radio show.
She told co-host Jamie Theakston: “Listen, I’ve drawn a line under all those issues with Phillip.
“I’m just going to say I really admire anyone that’s going to stick up for themselves because it’s not an easy thing to do.
“There’s a tin opener and a can somewhere and other people have found the tin opener. That’s all I’m saying.”
Read more: Amanda Holden says Britain’s Got Talent freed her from Neil Morrissey affair controversy
Holden, who has previously worked as a stand-in presenter for This Morning, has claimed that Schofield blocked her from standing in for Willoughby last year while Willoughby replaced Ant McPartlin on I’m A Celebrity, with the job instead going to Humes.
Over the summer, while talking on Heart Radio about the three things she wouldn’t like to find in her house, Holden named: “Spiders, flies and Phillip Schofield.”
Schofield has always said that the claims are not true, and tweeted in June to express his sadness about reports of him falling out with colleagues.
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.
— Phillip Schofield (@Schofe) June 23, 2019
ITV has strongly denied any rumours about Schofield upsetting other presenters, with a spokesperson saying: “This is absolutely not a description of This Morning that we recognise.”
This Morning editor Martin Frizell added: “I spend hundreds of days a year in (Schofield and Willoughby’s) company and what you see is what you get, a genuine friendship from a couple who are both spontaneously funny and professional.
“We have the smartest viewers watching telly and believe me they would be the first to notice any issues – they haven’t because there are none.”