Phillip Schofield has defended Eamonn Holmes, after he was accused of “ruining” Phil’s moment when he came out as gay on Friday.
After releasing a statement on social media on Friday, the 57-year-old spoke about his decision to come out as gay on This Morning.
On the show, Phil was joined by his colleagues Holly Willoughby, Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford.
However, viewers were left outraged when Eamonn said he thought Phil was resigning, and joked that he thought he was going to get his job.
He said: “I am disappointed in a couple of ways, first of all, I thought, ‘big announcement from Phillip’ I thought you were going to come in and announce you had resigned and I would take your job, so that wasn’t to be.”
Eamonn then went on to joke about Phillip spending time with Holly in a hot tub on holidays, and poked fun at her ‘Willoughbooby’ nickname.
He added: “The second is there’s this great imponderable in life, which has always irritated me, I thought, ‘How come he can sit in a hot tub with Holly Willoughbooby and Steph doesn’t have a problem and Dan [Holly’s husband] doesn’t have a problem.'”
Phillip quickly changed the subject by saying, “This [Holly] is the sister I never had.”
Eamonn’s comments sparked a lot of backlash on social media, but Phillip has since jumped to his defence.
He tweeted “Can I just say that @EamonnHolmes & @RuthieeL were utterly magnificent with me today…”
“Privately downstairs just the three of us and upstairs in front of the world. I couldn’t have hoped for a better, calming and loving set of hugs and support, I adore them both.”
“And for the record, Eamonn made me laugh, he lightened a very emotional moment and I’m very happy that he did [heart emoji].”
1/2 Can I just say that @EamonnHolmes & @RuthieeL were utterly magnificent with me today, privately downstairs just the three of us and upstairs in front of the world. I couldn’t have hoped for a better, calming and loving set of hugs and support, I adore them both.
— Phillip Schofield (@Schofe) February 7, 2020
2/2 and for the record, @EamonnHolmes made me laugh, he lightened a very emotional moment and I’m very happy that he did ❤️
— Phillip Schofield (@Schofe) February 7, 2020
Eamonn also tweeted a photo of him hugging Phil, and wrote: “A picture paints a thousand words.”
“This is a man who was in pain, who today confided in Ruth and I and who knows we stand in support of him, his family and his sexuality…”
“Also unlike some, he appreciated a laugh to break the tension. @schofe hoping you find happiness.”
