Piers Morgan put in an appearance on Loose Women on Tuesday lunchtime and it didn’t take him long to say something a little controversial.
Ruth Langsford was helming the ITV daytime show, when Piers’ alluded to ongoing tabloid reports that she isn’t exactly best mates with fellow This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield.
Many viewers of last week’s National Television Awards called out a supposed “awkward” exchange between Phillip and Ruth, when the This Morning team went up on stage to collect the award for Best Live Magazine Show.
During his appearance on Tuesday’s show, Piers was chatting about how nice Tom Hanks is, when he made a jokey quip to Ruth.
“We all know people who are supposed to be nice in the business, don’t we Ruth?”
Cue much laughter from the panel.
However Ruth’s lips remained firmly sealed, but we think her face said it all…
The two presenters’ beef reportedly goes back as far as last April, when Phillip cut Ruth off mid-sentence during a live link-up between the This Morning and Loose Women studios.
As Ruth explained what viewers could expect to see coming up on the talk show, Phil cut her off mid-sentence, telling her: “Guys, we are going to have to jump in there and stop you I’m afraid.
“We are a bit tight for time on this end, thank you, Ruth. We will catch you guys a little bit later.”
Ruth was then seen hitting her pen on the desk, before muttering under her breath: “Well I only had about two more words to say… but don’t worry.”
In December, ITV was forced to deny reports of behind-the-scenes tensions between Phil and his co-presenter Holly Willoughby.
The show’s editor, Martin Frazell, said: “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.”
Similarly, an ITV spokesperson added: “It’s deeply disappointing and unfair for Phillip to be the target of this sort of malicious gossip.
“Phillip is a much respected broadcaster and colleague and this is absolutely not a description of This Morning that we recognise.
“Holly and Phil are great friends both on and off screen and are popular among viewers and colleagues alike.”
Prior to this, it was claimed that Amanda Holden had fallen out with Phillip, after reports suggested she would be filling in for Holly when she co-hosted I’m A Celebrity in 2018, but the job ended up going to Rochelle Humes.
Amanda was reportedly left fuming over the matter, but later revealed she’d tried to reach out to Phillip by offering to meet up for a coffee. The outcome of that, she claimed, was that “he didn’t reply to my text”.