Phillip Schofield’s popularity ‘drops as he loses scores of followers on social media while co-star Holly Willoughby GAINS fans amid ‘queue-gate’ fiasco’
This Morning’s Phillip Schofield’s popularity has reportedly dropped as he has lost scores of followers on social media amid his ‘queue-gate’ row.
The presenter, 60, lost over 12,000 Instagram followers in the last month – whereas in contrast his co-star Holly, 41, made advances in her number of fans online, according to The Sun.
The duo have been the subject of scrutiny in the wake of the claims they ‘skipped the queue’ to see the Queen lying in state last week and an online petition to have the duo fired from their lucrative presenting roles has hit 65,000 signatures.
Oh no: This Morning’s Phillip Schofield’s popularity has reportedly dropped as he has lost scores of followers on social media amid his ‘queue-gate’ row
Statistics collected by social media analytics website Social Blade seen by the publication reveal Phil has been gradually losing fans for the past 12 months but experienced his biggest drop this week.
In the last year, Phil has lost 117,769 fans across Twitter and Instagram, whereas Holly- has gained 787,783.
Since September 2021, Phillip has lost 89,260 Instagram followers, with 10,170 of these fans unfollowing him in the last 30 days alone, and 2,941 in the last week.
Difficult: The duo have been the subject of scrutiny in the wake of the claims they ‘skipped the queue’ to see the Queen lying in state last week and an online petition to have the duo fired from their lucrative presenting roles has hit 65,000 signatures
In contrast, Holly has gained a total of 729,202 new Instagram followers in the last 12 months, and attracted 35,790 new fans on the platform in the last 30 days.
On Twitter, meanwhile, Phil has lost 28,508 followers in the last 12 months, with 5,655 of these fans unfollowing him in the last 30 days.
In the same period, Holly has gained 58,581 new followers on the platform.
Phillip has a current total of 3,032,459 followers on Instagram and 4,482,362 on Twitter.
Caught on camera: Holly and Phil were pictured entering the hall through a door which was clearly marked as not for public access – thought to be the entrance for media representatives
Representatives for both Holly and Phil have been contacted by MailOnline for a comment.
This Morning bosses have denied show hosts Holly and Phillip had ‘VIP access’ and filed ‘past the Queen lying in state’ as they filmed a segment for the programme at Westminster Hall in London last week.
With reports the five-mile long queue had been closed for six hours on Friday, boosting the wait time to ‘at least 14 hours’, the TV duo were said to have joined a separate queue and were taken into a press gallery.
The presenters have not commented on the allegations since issuing a statement on Tuesday’s show in which they insisted they ‘did not skip the queue’.
A clearer view: A photo of Westminster Abbey – highlighting where the media box is, where the public queue is and where Holly and Phil appeared to be walking
An ITV spokesperson added in a statement to MailOnline: ‘This Morning had press accreditation and like other media, Phillip and Holly were escorted to work from the press gallery by government staff.
‘They did not file past The Queen’s coffin. They were there alongside a host of other broadcasters and national press outlets for an item that will be broadcast on Tuesday’s show. Any allegations of improper behaviour are categorically untrue.’
However, in a statement issued by ITV on Saturday and later broadcast on Tuesday’s This Morning, which was voiced over by Holly but both stopped short of using the word ‘sorry’ – a move which has left many viewers furious.
A source told MailOnline: ‘Every word of the statement was poured over. In the end, it’s spectacularly backfired.
‘Initially Holly and Phillip were prepared to say sorry if they’d upset anyone as they both just desperately want to draw a line under the affair. But they were advised strongly not to go down that road of saying sorry.’
Such has been the backlash to the pair that TV insiders are raising ‘serious concerns’ about the presenters’ wellbeing after they appeared tearful and muted on This Morning this week.
In the first episode of the show since the row unfolded, Holly and Phil, strongly denied viewers’ claims they were ‘too posh to queue’ and said they had been in Westminster Hall on Friday ‘strictly for the purpose of reporting on the event.’
The voiceover also hammered home the point, ‘Please know that we would never jump a queue.’
Snap happy: Holly and Phil outside the Houses of Parliament. The pair say none of the broadcasters and journalists at the Queen’s lying-in-state took anyone’s place in the queue
A TV source said on Wednesday night: ‘The abuse has been nothing short of disgusting, not least as they have done nothing wrong and were fully entitled to media accreditation so they could inform their viewers.’
‘There is huge, real and serious concerns over their wellbeing and ITV are fully supporting them behind the scenes in the face of such relentless trolling. The channel backs them 110 per cent.’
Footage inside Westminster Abbey appeared to show Holly and Phil, 60, walking along an area separate from the media box – but ITV has since insisted the stars did not join mourners in filing past the coffin.
Statement: On Saturday, This Morning bosses denied show hosts Holly and Phillip had ‘VIP access’ and filed ‘past the Queen lying in state’
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