Miriam Margolyes has shared her thoughts on Phillip Schofield’s exit from This Morning.
Over recent years, the Harry Potter actor had become a semi-regular feature on the sofa of the ITV daytime show, with Phillip and former co-host Holly Willoughby often describing her as one of their favourite guests.
However, Phillip left This Morning after 21 years back in May, amid reports of a fallout with Holly, before going on to quit ITV altogether after admitting to having lied about an affair with a younger male colleague.
Miriam expressed her sadness at the situation as she discussed her enjoyment of appearing on daytime TV – where she says “egos are less in evidence” – in her new memoir Oh Miriam: Stories From An Extraordinary Life.
She says (via The Independent) that she found Holly and Phillip to be “warm, welcoming and ready to join in the frolic”, adding: “I feel sad I shan’t have the chance to make Phil laugh again; he was a darling then and to me he always will be.”
Miriam appeared to reference the fall-out from Phillip’s departure and the criticism Holly also faced during her first appearance on This Morning since the scandal earlier this week.
Joining the show as an agony aunt to take questions from viewers, she said to Holly: “When people were at you, it must have been ghastly!”
Following Phillip’s exit from This Morning, the programme also faced accusations of bullying and being a “toxic” workplace – something which bosses were swift to deny.
ITV has so far decided against finding a permanent replacement for Phillip, with Holly continuing to front the show with a rotation of other members of the on-air This Morning team, including Josie Gibson, Alison Hammond, Dermot O’Leary and Craig Doyle.
Oh Miriam: Stories From An Extraordinary Life is out now.