Kim Woodburn demands ‘liars’ Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield leave This Morning

Kim Woodburn launched a scathing attack on Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on Thursday morning as she accused them of ‘lying’ about not skipping the queue to see the Queen lying in state.

The Celebrity Big Brother star, 80, called for the pair to sacked from their This Morning presenting duties – while claiming that they ‘have heads the size of [military base] Fort Knox’.

Holly and Philip were accused of jumping the queue at Westminster Hall in London last week while tens of thousands of mourners patiently waited for 12 hours at a time to pay their respects to Her Majesty – but argued their visit was ‘strictly for reporting’.

Appearing on GB News’ panel with broadcaster Jeni Barnett and Francine Lewis, Kim certainly didn’t hold back as she discussed the queuing drama.

The enraged TV personality explained: ‘There were many people in that queue, people with wheelchairs and walking sticks. And Holly and Phillip think because they are on TV they can flout the rules. 

‘If Holly felt so strongly, she should’ve done that [waited] and taken off all those phony things they were wearing, pretending they were in the press. They lied.

But jumping to their defence, Jeni accused Kim of character assasination, adding: ‘Why do you think they would be so foolish as to do what you’re suggesting they did?’

Kim, fuelled with rage, hit back: ‘They’ve got heads the size of Fort Knox! Because they’ve been pampered for years on television, they can do no wrong. 

‘People kiss their backsides, they need to go. Since they’ve been on holiday, other presenters have done a better job they’re more cheerful. 

‘Holly and Phil have made enough money, had enough seen enough, people don’t like them – go! They’re a horrible pair of people. Get nice people like Alison [Hammond]. She’s damn good at her job.’

The How Clean Is Your House star also accused the famous presenting duo of being rude to her following her Celebrity Big Brother stint – branding them ‘unwelcoming’. 

Sources claimed this week that a ‘distraught’ Holly will not quit This Morning over the ‘queue skipping row’ – as she and Phillip battle an escalating public backlash for the queue debacle – but show insiders ‘still fear what future holds’ for the ITV star.

The ‘devastated’ presenters – who are reportedly paid as much as £600,000 for hosting the popular daytime show from Mondays to Thursdays- have faced growing fury after images of them appearing to ‘skip the queue’ emerged on Friday while tens of thousands of mourners patiently waited for 12 hours at a time.

Holly was reportedly in floods of tears as she and Phil both begged This Morning bosses to defend them from the ensuing storm – and were furious that ITV sat on their hands before issuing a short statement defending the pair on Saturday.

The pair were keen to issue a public apology over ‘queue-gate’, but were talked out of it after taking legal advice, a source told MailOnline. 

‘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.’ 

But Kim isn’t the only one to have spoken out against Holly and Phil – as Eammon Holmes also hit out at his former co-hosts during Wednesday’s GB news. 

Speaking on GB News Breakfast, Eamonn, 62, made no bones about the fact he didn’t believe his former colleagues and said they ‘messed up’.

Chatting with presenter Clare Muldoon, Eamonn said: ‘I’ll tell you what’s strategic. Why is Holly fighting to keep her job, according to The Sun, but Mr Phillip isn’t?’

Clare replied: ‘Who knows? Twitter, last night, was saying she didn’t want to vacate her job at This Morning.

‘Who wouldn’t want to give up £600,000 a year and everything else that comes with it? I think the brand is very damaged. There has to be a change from the top down to the bottom on This Morning.’

Eamonn then read out the statement from Holly and Phillip, saying: ‘We didn’t jump the queue, we were working’ as he questioned ‘Why wasn’t your boss there working with you?’ 

Referring to a photo of Holly wearing a mask inside Westminster Hall, Clare asked: ‘Why was she wearing a mask? Is she allergic to the public?’

Eamonn answred: ‘No, she does that. “Holly’s in tears”, but Holly’s always in tears. But wearing a mask – I think she’s quite fearful, germophobic.’ 

Co-presenter Isabel Webster said Holly and Philip fast-tracking was no different to what other broadcasters did while covering the Queen lying in state.

But a still unimpressed Eammon replied: ‘They didn’t get a fast-track, they say. Lie. They say they didn’t pay their respects to the body. Lie. What else were they there for? Let’s just tell the truth about the whole thing.

‘They messed up, and instead of being arrogant and saying, “We were there working as journalists”, why don’t they just say, “Yeah, we thought it would be a good idea”.’

Meanwhile, the former This Morning host also made his feelings known on Twitter as he responded with praying hands emojis to a user who wrote: ‘They [Holly and Phillip] should be sacked, Eamonn and Ruth are far better than them idiots’. 

Members of the public even started a petition demand that Holly and Phil be sacked from ITV, which has now reached 50,000 signatures.