Phillip Schofield and Amanda Holden 'row': ITV denies reports This Morning presenter 'banned' BGT star from show

The channel described the speculation as "completely untrue"
Denied: ITV shut down reports that Phillip Schofield 'banned' Amanda Holden from This Morning
Steve Meddle/ITV/REX
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ITV has denied reports that Phillip Schofield has banned Amanda Holden from This Morning.

Rumours of a feud between the two TV presenters resurfaced last month when a source alleged that Schofield “used his powers of persuasion” to prevent Holden from filling in for Holly Willoughby when she appeared on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here last year.

Speaking to The Sun, the insider also claimed that Schofield “actively campaigned for Rochelle Humes to get the job” as she “was easier to manage on air” than Holden.

In a statement given to Metro.co.uk yesterday, the broadcaster said: “These reports are completely untrue. Presenters don’t make decisions regarding who appears on the show.”

Row: Phillip Schofield and Amanda Holden
Ken McKay/ITV/REX

Schofield addressed the spate of “hurtful” stories last month in a Twitter post, telling followers that he would take the speculation “on the chin.”

“The end of another really sad weekend,” he wrote. “When you try for 35 years to be the easiest, most fun person to work with and you read such hurtful and wildly untrue stories from nameless ‘sources.’ Obviously I’ll take it on the chin… I just hope you know me better.”

Holden also alluded to the alleged feud on her Heart Breakfast radio show, telling co-host Jamie Theakston that she has “moved on” from any drama and admitting that she tried to reach out to Schofield “months ago.”

Amanda Holden - In pictures

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“I did offer to meet him for a coffee months ago, he didn’t reply to my text,” she revealed. “What can I say?”

She previously joked that she would not want to find “spiders, flies [or] Phillip Schofield” in her house in a quick-fire game live on air.

Holden stood in for Willoughby during her maternity leave from September to December 2014 alongside Schofield and also co-presented episodes with Ben Shephard in 2017.

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