DAN WOOTTON: Phillip and Holly have taken us for fools

DAN WOOTTON: Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby have taken us for fools. Despite their protests, we KNOW they jumped the great Elizabeth line and this PR car crash proves they really do think they’re better than us

It’s the verbal gymnastics we’ve come to expect from scandal-plagued politicians.

Like Matt Hancock declaring he hadn’t broken the draconian social-distancing rules he enforced on all of us, despite snogging and groping a woman who was not his wife at his workplace as Covid restrictions remained in place.

Or Bill Clinton insisting he did not have ‘sexual relations’ with ‘that woman’ Monica Lewinsky – and claiming that, while he had tried smoking pot, he never inhaled.

Scheming Phillip Schofield and his hapless accomplice Holly Willoughby’s explanation of how skipping a queue of tens of thousands of ordinary Brits waiting to pay their respects to the Queen lying in state wasn’t actually skipping a queue will go down the ages as one of the all-time great PR disasters.

Thanks to the live-stream of Westminster Hall, we spotted the This Morning presenters being escorted past the coffin, even though Holly had donned a black mask, perhaps because she was embarrassed about exactly what they were doing.

And as a result of social media footage filmed by some of the honest folk who had lined-up in the 13-hour snaking queue around the river Thames, we know they had been ushered past the public to a special entrance.

This is the sort of VIP treatment Phillip and Holly have come to expect.

Sadly, Queuegate has proven what we’ve suspected for a long time: Phillip and Holly think they’re better than us, writes DAN WOOTTON (pictured)

At ITV Daytime, where I worked for 10 years, they are untouchable; treated as the king and queen of the broadcaster for whom every whim is catered Mariah Carey-style by a massive team of ever obliging minions.

When offered the chance to view the Queen’s coffin, it wouldn’t have crossed their mind for even a moment that they should probably line up with the public, just like their colleague Susanna Reid or the far more famous David Beckham decided to do.

Indeed, they seemed to convince themselves that their coffin jaunt was some sort of selfless exercise conducted on a Friday (their holy day off) so they could be the eyes and ears of the British public.

In a damage control broadcast yesterday, Holly said in a voiceover dripping with faux sincerity: ‘It was strictly for the purpose of reporting on the event for millions of people in the UK who haven’t been able to visit Westminster in person. The rules were that we would be quickly escorted around the edges to a platform at the back. In contrast, those paying respects walked along a carpeted area beside the coffin and were given time to pause. None of the broadcasters and journalists there took anyone’s place in the queue and no one filed past the Queen. We, of course, respected those rules. However, we realise that it may have looked like something else and, therefore totally understand the reaction. Please know that we would never jump a queue.’

Er, what?

Holly, Phillip and This Morning are taking us for fools with that statement.

We KNOW they skipped the queue. That’s not in doubt – it’s a fact; the videos show it happening.

By treating This Morning viewers in such a derisory manner, it’s no wonder Queuegate is shredding Phillip and Holly’s remaining credibility.

The question is not whether the star presenters skipped the line, but whether that was an acceptable thing to do as ‘journalists’ covering the historic event.

Even if we’re kind and accept that Phil and Holly are suddenly field reporters and This Morning is a news show, much still doesn’t make sense with their explanation.

Most curious is the fact that they turned up at Westminster without any cameramen or technical crew. That’s unheard of for star presenters at a show like This Morning with a limitless budget.

Obviously, no equipment could be taken into Westminster Hall itself, but if they were reporting on the event, they would have had cameras to film them before they entered and once they left, presumably interviewing members of the public about their experience inside.

But all that ended up being broadcast was a very short clip that appeared to have been filmed on an iPhone, where Holly nods enthusiastically in agreement when Phillip proclaims: ‘That’s probably got to be one of, if not the most, profound moments of my life.’

Even more curious is the fact they had no show to broadcast on Saturday, Sunday or Monday, so they knew the earliest they would be able to talk about their experience at Westminster Hall was on Tuesday, by which point the Queen had already been buried.

I believe this has become a scandal because of transparency and trustworthiness.

This is the sort of VIP treatment Phillip and Holly (pictured together) have come to expect, writes DAN WOOTTON

If Holly and Phil had admitted they did skip the queue, using their privilege as members of the media, as many other journalists and broadcasters have done, to be able to talk about the experiences of seeing the Queen’s coffin on their show, then we would have at least respected their honesty and moved on.

But it’s the holier-than-thou response suggesting that we all totally missed the point that has made things much worse.

To be honest, I feel like the cult of Phillip and Holly might be coming to an end.

In fairness, she’s a nice woman who has made a decision to be dragged down in so many ways by her co-host out of loyalty when she would be better off going her own way and focussing on her highly successful primetime projects and lifestyle business ventures.

Viewers have seen through Phillip after a series of scandals that seemed to shed light on his notoriously frosty relations with fellow presenters.

They include the original Fern Britton, a good woman who remains bruised by her experiences, the exceptional Amanda Holden, who he for some inexplicable refused to work with and she called him out for it, and my GB News colleague Eamonn Holmes, who helped announce Phillip’s choreographed TV coming out only to be tossed aside months later.

This Morning worked when we felt like we were watching two of our pals, with a family of regular guests with whom we could relate.

Now we feel like we’re being talked down to by two frosty multi-millionaire A-list divas who don’t seem to be that nice to their colleagues or fellow presenters.

Sadly, Queuegate has proven what we’ve suspected for a long time: Phillip and Holly think they’re better than us.

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