Phillip Schofield is a “shell of himself” as ITV colleagues fear about the 61-year-old presenter, a source has claimed.
Schofield has been growing increasingly distant from This Morning co-host Holly Willoughby in recent months.
The pair appeared on ITV’s morning show yesterday after last-ditch talks reportedly provided both hosts with a short-term resolution to their ongoing feud.
However, the debacle has left many at ITV’s White City HQ worried about Schofield.
Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby first co-hosted This Morning in 2009
PAA source told The Mirror: “He is becoming increasingly withdrawn and almost a shell of himself.
“He seems down and spends a lot of time in his dressing room. We’re worried about him.”
However, a source close to Willoughby appeared to reject reports that the pair have had a profound falling out.
They claimed: “Yes, they aren’t as chummy as before.
Phillip Schofield has brought in his lawyers and a top PR guruPA“But any suggestion they were at loggerheads, not talking off-air, was false.”
Schofield publicly addressed his rift with Willoughby recently.
He admitted: “The last few weeks haven’t been easy for either of us.
“As I have said before, Holly is my rock.”
Holly Willoughby has been working on This Morning since 2009PASchofield continued: “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.”
Schofield briefly disappeared from TV screens after his brother Timothy, 54, was tried at Exeter Crown Court for sexually abusing a teenage boy.
The 61-year-old’s return to This Morning comes as he reportedly called in his own lawyers and hired a new PR guru.
