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Phillip Schofield will not watch This Morning on Monday, fronted by his ex-co-presenter Holly Willoughby, as it would be too devastating for him, his friends have reportedly said.<\/p>\n
Willoughby is expected to tell viewers of her sadness at the end of her 13-year screen partnership with Schofield, and that the long-running programme must go on.<\/p>\n
Schofield resigned from ITV last week after admitting an affair with a younger male colleague. Bosses at the channel said they had been badly let down by his untruths.<\/p>\n
He hinted last week that he had felt suicidal, saying without his daughters he would \u201cnot be here\u201d.<\/p>\n
A friend told The Sun: \u201cHe physically could not watch \u2013 he\u2019s not there yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven listening to the opening credits would be hugely triggering.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis family is being incredibly careful not to have the\u00a0TV\u00a0on when he\u2019s in the room to ensure he doesn\u2019t see anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course he is aware Willoughby is back on air today and he absolutely wanted her to shine, and smash it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he physically could not watch \u2013 he is not there yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alongside new co-host Josie Gibson, she is set to give an emotional statement at the start of This Morning on Monday about her onscreen break-up with Schofield.<\/p>\n
She will be on a rotation of presenters until a decision is made about a permanent replacement for Schofield.<\/p>\n
A source told the paper: \u201cWilloughby is naturally nervous about this and is being supported by This Morning.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpeaking about Phil and what has happened is not going to be easy and emotions are running high.<\/p>\n
\u201cWilloughby\u00a0is a consummate professional but this will arguably be one of the toughest things she has ever had to do in her television career.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The insider added: \u201cThe show is braced for tears and Willoughby is getting support from the team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schofield sent her a text message\u00a0apologising for having lied about the affair before his confession was made public.<\/p>\n
In an earlier interview with the BBC\u2019s Amol Rajan, Schofield said: \u201cThe last time we had a conversation was when I texted Holly and said, \u2018Don\u2019t reply\u2019 \u2013 this was after the statement last week \u2013 \u2018Don\u2019t reply, you\u2019re probably not allowed to, but I am deeply deeply sorry that I lied to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Wednesday,\u00a0ITV boss Dame\u00a0Carolyn McCall\u00a0is due to give evidence to a parliamentary committee to answer questions about the broadcaster\u2019s approach to safeguarding and complaint-handling following Schofield\u2019s admission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviewsSign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Phillip Schofield will not watch This Morning on Monday, fronted by his ex-co-presenter Holly Willoughby, as it would be too devastating for him, his friends have reportedly said. Willoughby is expected to tell viewers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2089,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n