Ant and Dec surprise fans with Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield swipe after pair’s ITV exits
Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly couldn’t resist a pointed dig at former ITV stars Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on the latest episode of their podcast, Hanging Out.
The duo surprised listeners as they revived memories of the notorious “queue-gate” affair from four years ago.
The Geordie pair had been chatting about their eagerness to visit the Bayeux Tapestry, which has drawn huge crowds since going on display at the British Museum for the first time in nearly a millennium.
Mr McPartlin joked: “If anyone from the British Museum is watching this podcast in their downtime… I’d like to jump the queue.”
Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby were familiar faces on ITV’s This Morning | ITVMr Donnelly fired back with a laugh: “I’m not sure about TV presenters skipping queues. I don’t think that’s going to end well!”
Mr McPartlin jokingly pressed on: “What could possibly go wrong? It’s just scuttle down the side, pop in the front.”
His pal and presenting partner then added with heavy sarcasm: “Do you think that’s the end? Nobody’s gonna say anything about it.”
The Geordie duo were referencing the incident in which the then-This Morning presenters were accused of bypassing the 13-hour queue to view Queen Elizabeth lying in state at Westminster Hall.
Ant and Dec remain the faces of some of ITV’s biggest shows
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GETTYMs Willoughby and Mr Schofield maintained they had attended in a professional capacity to file a report for ITV, but the public reaction was ferocious.
Within days, a petition calling for their dismissal from This Morning had gathered more than 50,000 signatures.
The controversy dogged the pair for months as they struggled to shake off the fallout, which only subsided the following year when Mr Schofield admitted to an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a younger colleague.
This ultimately led to his departure from ITV.
Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield also fronted Dancing on Ice | PA
Ms Willoughby, now 45, has since made considerable efforts to put distance between herself and the scandal.
Despite the furore from onlookers, ITV pushed back against the allegations at the time, with a spokesperson insisting it was “not a fair and accurate representation of what happened.”
The broadcaster said Mr Schofield and Ms Willoughby had been present alongside other media organisations covering the Queen’s death.
Mr Schofield himself reflected on the lasting damage in a 2023 interview with The Sun, acknowledging his instincts had told him it was a mistake.
He said: “We were texting each other backwards and forwards afterwards. I said to Holly, ‘I knew I should have gone with my gut,’ and she said, ‘I know.'”
He described both of them as “completely shell-shocked by the reaction” and said in hindsight: “What are the two things you don’t screw up? The Queen and a queue.”
Numerous other celebrities, including David Beckham, Susanna Reid and Sharon Osbourne, had been photographed waiting patiently in the lengthy queue.
Since his departure from ITV, Mr Schofield has largely stepped away from public life. He briefly returned to the spotlight in Channel 5’s Cast Away in 2024.
Meanwhile, Ms Willoughby has launched her own YouTube channel, titled Together.
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