Intimate secrets that bond Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield after 14 years
This Morning's Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield have one of the tightest relationships in showbiz, and it's founded on the ultimate level of trust
Video Loading
Click to play
Tap to play
The video will start in 8Cancel
When Phillip Schofield came out as gay on This Morning in February, it was his co-host and best friend Holly Willoughby who held his hand as poured his heart out to the nation.
Wrapping a comforting arm around the man who convinced show bosses to hire her back in 2009, Holly held Phil tight as he sobbed in moving scenes.
And their bond is as strong off-screen too. Fiercely protective of one and other, Phil, 58, has been known to go to war on Twitter on Holly's behalf, and she is equally as protective.
Their friendship was first born back in the mid-noughties when up-and-comer Holly joined established TV presenter Phil on ITV's Dancing On Ice in 2006.
Holly, 39, said she was initially 'scared' about working with such a big name but quickly realised they were cut from the same cloth.
"I love that man. I'd obviously watched him on the telly lots, he was in the Broom Cupboard , he was my children's TV presenter that I used to watch," she once told the Jonathan Ross Show.
"I was a bit scared when I first met him but that changed very quickly when I realised he was basically me in the male form."
For Phil's part, he's said to have been so impressed by Holly that he convinced bosses to hire her as Fern Britton's replacement on This Morning in 2009.
She spent her first ever show nervously clinging onto Phil's arm, but with their bloopers and near-constant giggling, the pair quickly became an award-winning combination.
Off screen, their friendship flourished with the couple and their families holidaying to Portugal together almost every year.
Their partners Stephanie and Dan Baldwin became friends too while Phil's daughters Ruby and Molly doted on Holly's younger kids, Harry, Belle and Chester.
As an exhausted, working mum Holly found comfort in colleague Phil who had been through it with his own little ones.
“We spend quite a lot of time together and quite often I’d come in in the morning and I wouldn’t have slept properly because of the kids or something and he’s my first port of call to talk to, really," she previously told the Radio Times.
And for Phil, Holly quickly became his confidante, with the pair developing a level of trust that's rare in the entertainment business.
“Holly is incredibly sympathetic,” Phil said in the same sit-down chat, revealing that she's the holder of his most protected secrets.
He continued: “She’s the best person to tell secrets to. She’s got a brilliant ability to see sense through mess. She’s also more diplomatic than I am.
“If we disagree on something, which is rare, we very quickly see the other person’s point of view. And we don’t have egos between the pair of us – there’s none of that nonsense.”
The news of Phil's secret struggle with his sexuality came as a surprise to many given his 27-year marriage to wife Stephanie - something Phil acknowledged in his moving Instagram statement.
"You never know what is going on in someone's seemingly perfect life, what issues they are struggling with or the state of their wellbeing - and so you won't know what has been consuming me for the last few years," he said.
"With the strength and support of my wife and my daughters, I have been coming to terms with the fact that I am gay."
Admitting the situation had caused 'heart-breaking conversations' at home, he revealed that contrary to rift rumours, Holly had been a source of support throughout.
"My friends are the best, especially Holly, who has been so kind and wise - and who has hugged me as I sobbed on her shoulder," Phil wrote.
And in an emotional interview on This Morning, he broke down recalling the painful process of coming to terms with his sexuality, telling Holly: "I couldn't have done it if it hadn't been for you."
Reaching across to comfort him, Holly promised: "Whatever happens in the future, I'll be sat by your side, forever and ever."
"Thank you my darling, so much," wept Phil.
The pair were recently forced to defend their friendship after rumours of a civil war at ITV between Phil and his co-host Ruth Langsford.
"We ring each other and talk to each other all the time anyway, about this and other things,” Holly told Closer magazine, insisting there was no way they could 'fake' their close bond.
She continued: “We know what we’re like. It would be impossible for us to fake the giggles. I’m on the telly for two and a half hours - let me tell you, I’m not that good an actress.
MirrorCeleb