Eamonn Holmes has revealed that he and wife Ruth Langsford felt "used" by Phillip Schofield over his "choreographed" coming out statement on This Morning.

The Belfast man's claims come after Phillip admitted on Friday that he had had an "unwise but not illegal" relationship with a younger colleague.

Phillip, 61, announced he was gay in February 2020 and shared a statement to his Instagram. Moments later, the same statement was read out on This Morning by his co-host Holly Willoughby.

Shortly afterwards, Ruth and Eamonn, both 63, hugged Phillip and Holly before joining them on the sofa.

But Eamonn, who now hosts the Breakfast Show at rival broadcaster GB News, told Dan Wootton he had "bad vibes" about the statement being broadcast on the daytime show.

Eamonn and Ruth, who used to co-present This Morning on Fridays, had not been told why Phillip would be sitting on the sofa with them on his day off, claiming ITV bosses simply said the presenter "had something to say".

The reason was only revealed when Phil came into the pair's dressing room and "fell down on his knees crying" and announced "I'm gay".

At the time, Eamonn said he and his wife were "very, very supportive" of Phil, comforting him by hugging him and telling him: "We'll stand by you".

But in the explosive interview which aired on Tuesday night, he told Dan: "I was lied to about Schofield's coming out interview. I felt used."

He said Ruth was "constantly asked" what she was going to say on air in response to Phillip's revelation.

"We then began to feel there was a certain line being pattered here," he added.

Eamonn went on to say: "I just decided at this point, 'Hm I'm not sure'. I'm just beginning to feel bad vibes about this, I think I'm not saying anything, so I don't say anything in the opener, Ruth says what she has to say.

"Then it goes to those two in their choreographed way, knowing how false they are, I'm sure they rehearsed it for days.

"We began to feel this is not our show at all…. This had been planned for some time."

Continuing, Eamonn said: "And it then materialises, obviously, all is not what it seems, because he has obviously done a deal with the newspaper to give a version of what the newspaper knew, and it was all a bit weird."

"We were lied to and Ruth and I to this day are embarrassed and ashamed when we see those pictures."

Phillip resigned from This Morning on 20 May and admitted a week later that he had had an "unwise but not illegal" relationship with a younger colleague while he was the host of This Morning.

ITV says that they investigated "rumours of a relationship" in 2020 but that both parties “repeatedly denied” the claims and that the broadcaster wasn’t able to find "any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour."

Eamonn, however, claimed that "those in authority" knew about the relationship and even organised taxis that ferried Phillip’s affair partner back and forth from his house.

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