As ITV opts to keep Phillip Schofield, Holly Willoughby will host This Morning with a rotating cast.
According to reports, the Wylde Moon creator, 42, will be the sole constant member of the long-running programme, joined “mainly” by Josie Gibson, 38, and Craig Doyle, 52.
Friday presenters Alison Hammond, 48, and Dermot O’Leary, 50, will also join the Dancing on Ice host “sporadically.”
‘The concept of finding the next Phil to sit next to Holly has been dismissed by This Morning’s bosses,’ an ITV insider stated, calling Holly This Morning’s ‘Queen Bee’. Holly and a rotating presenter will present. Holly will dominate.
‘Bosses aim to put the Schofield incident behind them and focus on the show’s subject rather than the twosome presenting it. At least no one will leave.
They continued to the Daily Mail: ‘Holly is so excited about the plan, she loves Josie, Craig, Alison and Dermot. It’s a happy ship and she made the decision not to quit but instead to return and keep things going while being at the helm. Holly is absolutely determined to head up the challenge to make the show a success again.’
After her summer vacation, Holly was expected to renew her contract on This Morning for a larger pay than ITV’s £700,000.
Since Phillip, 61, resigned from all his ITV projects after lying about a “unwise but not illegal” affair with runner, Holly’s permanent This Morning co-host job has been unfilled.
Holly took a break from the programme when Phil left, returning “shaken, upset, let down” and “full of questions.”
She now presents with Craig, who fans pushed ITV to appoint to replace Phil.
After Phil’s confession, Dr. Ranj Singh and Eamonn Holmes accused This Morning of “toxicity,” with the former saying he was fired after raising issues with ITV.
In a parliamentary committee, ITV CEO Carolyn McCall addressed programming culture claims.
She denied the accusations: ‘What I know is that when we talk about culture it’s really important to me, personally and so it terribly disappoints me, right?
‘But we do not recognise that in This Morning and the reason for that is that we have tangible evidence to tell you that the vast majority of people at daytime and at This Morning are engaged.
After Dr. Ranj made his feelings public, McCall said that ITV had a “strong duty of care” to its employees.
She addressed Dr. Ranj’s assertions in the broad message, saying the network was “sad” to read his comments.
This Morning airs from 10am on weekdays on ITV.
