This Morning

People here acting like Eamonn and Ruth are not pretty strong characters in their own right. I like most of the This Morning team I should note - But Eamonn's long had a history of being difficult himself.

In the 90's there was always whispers about how he got on (very badly) with GMTV co-hosts - Anthea Turner most notably being one of the big cases. There's also been episodes of TM where Eamonn and Ruth seem to take their banter a little too far with each other to point where one of them is pretty much visibly done with the other for that day (of note thinking of an episode that I think was this year or last where they had a chip shop van in - and there was some fussing over eating)

Ruth can also seem a bit quick to turn grumpy and is always quick to assert her position as a professional and as Eamonn's wife. I imagine it's quite a um...passionate household, for both the right and wrong reasons.

In any case, holding ill will over one TV link seems silly. I assume there's a bit more to it than that - it's not like any of them don't know that you only have so long between breaks and both shows are informal so I imagine sometimes it can become a bit of a stress to ensure all items get their allotted time during the last time slot for the show.

What were the other cases?

I believe Eamonn didn't get on with Martin Frizell during their time at GMTV but clearly they've made up since they're both working together on This Morning.

Eamonn had issues with GMTV management, he claims because they made it clear they were trying to get rid of him years before he eventually left.

Interestingly Eamonn was said to have referred to that management as "the c**ts* and over the weekend a senior ITV Daytime star was said to have the same nickname for Phillip.

Perhaps Dan Wootton's source for these stories is Eamonn?

I don't know who is was but didn't someone here say that Eamonn and Ruth are well liked by the crew and contributors of This Morning?

The this morning logo with Phillip and Holly reappears at the breaks. Same with Eamonn and Ruth getting their name displayed last Friday.

I don't think you need presenters of a journalistic background hosting 'This Morning', but it does stand in good stead whenever there are serious news features. The interviews with politicians are a case in point, integrity is important and you could always tell if you are reading off a script or you are putting your own spin on things. Richard and Judy were good at this, so was Fern when she was the 'lead' presenter.

A couple of months back when Fern was interviewed by Phil and Holly she quite delicately made a point about how being a journalist put her in good stead for her TV career. She said it twice but the message clearly wasn't lost on the presenters.

Shame she and Phil had a spat, supposedly it started when he told the bosses to veto her launching a clothing range. But then she had a spat with Piers Morgan and they've now made up. So who knows what the future may bring.

I think there must be more to the Phillip and Fern fallout than we know. We've heard she wasn't happy about him being paid more and that he was getting controlling (as he still seems to be).
Fern's agent has called Phillip a manipulator.
Fern was great and she was very much the 'lead' presenter for quite a while into her and Phillip's tenure. But his big pay cheques and ego took him over and the whole dynamic changed. They lost their chemistry, it started to come across awkward on screen.

Important to say that Fern has always maintained that there was no issue over pay, that she had no idea what Phillip was on and could understand if he was getting paid more because at the time he was presenting more programmes.

I always thought the issue wasn't so much what he got paid for This Morning but what he was getting paid for All Star Mr and Mrs, which originally they co-hosted.

Another day, another Phil story:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/10517002/phillip-schofield-this-morning-ben-shephard/

I think Ben would be a great replacement for Phil, not only because he's a fairly safe bet but also he's more suited to This Morning than GMB

Click bait

The headline says they’d considered replacing Phil with Ben, suggesting they’ve been planning getting rid of Phil

Actual story says that if Phil ever left, Ben would be their first choice.

The fact that The Sun is running these stories just ahead of the launch of Dancing on Ice and the new extended This Morning is I’m sure completely coincidental...