UNDER PRESSURE
Petition to sack This Morning’s Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield reaches a massive milestone
A PETITION for Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby to be sacked has topped more than 50,000 signatures.
Angry This Morning fans were fuming when they found out that the presenters 'jumped the queue' when they went to visit the Queen lying-in-state on Friday.
2
2
Holly, 41, and Phil, 60, joined millions of Brits to pay their respects to the late monarch at Westminster Hall last week.
However, many weren't happy when they found out that they managed to dodge the queue - which at one point was 24 hours long - because they were filming a segment for their show.
This caused outrage among mourners and one launched a petition on change.org to get the pair axed from TV.
The original target was 15,000, which was reached on Tuesday and overnight the figures continued to grow.
Read more on This Morning
It has now soared past 50,000 signatures, with a new target of 75,000 being added.
However Holly and Phil, and This Morning bosses, have insisted that the pair did nothing wrong and "did not jump the queue" to see the Queen's coffin, because they were working for the media.
And The Sun has exclusively revealed that Holly refuses to budge from her job on the sofa.
Although This Morning fans feared she had been 'crying all night' on Wednesday morning, ITV source confirmed: "Holly will not quit.
Most read in TV
"She has been devastated by all the negative reaction after she turned up to work at Westminster Hall with Phil on Friday, but she's not going to resign.
"This Morning has been her life for more than a decade and the only way she'd consider quitting at this stage is if viewers really didn't want her there.
"She's tried to give their side of the story on the show today and they're both hoping to move on from it now.
"Bosses know Holly is still a hit with viewers and are counting on her working her magic on the show for a good while yet."
Tuesday's This Morning opened with a montage of emotional TV moments since Queen Elizabeth II's death.
The footage included a clip from inside the hall, without showing Holly and Phil as they walked past the monarch's coffin.
Holly told viewers as the footage aired: "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 beside the coffin and were given time to pause.
"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."
A clip followed from outside Westminster Hall as Phil reflected on his visit and said: "That's got to be one of the most profound moments of my life."
However fans were left unimpressed by their explanation - branding it a "pathetic excuse".
Many famous faces have also given their opinion on the matter.
Susanna Reid, Eamonn Holmes and Huw Stevens have all taken swipes at the pair.
Read More on The Sun
Meanwhile The Chase star Anne Hegerty defended them both and called the Twitter trolls "extremely rude";.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Phil started presenting This Morning in 2002, and he was joined by Holly in 2009.
Topics