Aimee Walker
Piers Morgan has defended ‘distraught’ Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield after they were accused of ‘jumping the queue’ to see the Queen lying in state.
The ex-Good Morning Britain presenter leapt to the This Morning presenters’ defence on his TalkTV show Uncensored on Tuesday.
Morgan said the pair have been subjected to a ‘ridiculously over-the-top campaign’ and it needs to stop.
Watch Piers Morgan cover the Queen’s funeral in the clip below…
He stated: “Full disclosure, I am a good friend with Holly and I feel very sorry, she is absolutely distraught I think about the reaction.
“All hell broke loose about this, they have been subject to, I think, a ridiculously over-the-top campaign.
“[Thousands] of people have signed a petition to have them fired. Of course, they shouldn’t be fired, it’s ridiculous.”
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Morgan continued: “It may have been a misjudgement. I said myself on this show, I don’t think anyone should have been jumping the queue full stop, whoever you are, unless you are a world leader and there is a time issue.”
A Change.Org petition calling for the pair to be sacked and This Morning cancelled has achieved almost 45,000 signatures at the time of writing.
The backlash against Willoughby and Schofield began when the pair visited Westminister Hall to ‘report on the event’.
Appearing on This Morning on Tuesday, the award-winning presenters broke their silence on the accusations.
Willoughby stated: “Like hundreds of accredited broadcasters and journalists, we were given official permission to access the hall.
“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 inside the coffin and were given time to pause.
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“None of the broadcasters and journalists took anyone’s places in the queue and no one filed past the Queen.
“We, of course, respected those rules, however, we realised that it may have looked like something else and therefore we totally understand the reaction.
“Please know that we would never jump a queue.”
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