Holly Willoughby has shared her support for her This Morning co-host Phillip Schofield after he came out as gay.
The TV presenter, 57, made the announcement in an extended Instagram statement posted earlier today.
Shortly after, the presenters appeared on their show alongside guest hosts Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes to discuss the news.
Willoughby, 38, told viewers that “I have never been more proud of my friend than I have been today,” before reading out his social media statement in full.
The statement said that he made the announcement with the “full support” of his wife Steph and two daughters and asked fans “to be kind, especially to my family.”
Willoughby, who is close friends with her co-star, then promised: “Whatever happens in the future, I’ll be sat by your side. I’ll be by your side forever.”
She then asked viewers for their support, telling them: “We need you, we’re all part of this.”
Schofield said that “with every person I tell, it gets a little lighter” and added: “I am also very aware that it causes pain, it causes upset.”
He praised his “astonishing” wife for her love and support, telling Willoughby: “I can’t write in any statement what I feel about that woman, she is amazing, she is incredible.
“There is no one in my life who would have supported me the way she has supported me.”
He said that he had been inspired by the “amazingly brave” guests who had shared their stories with him on This Morning.
“I've got to the stage where I thought, we sit here every day and I’m over there and some amazingly brave incredible person is sitting here and I'm listening to their story thinking, ‘You're so brave, oh my god.’
“And I'm thinking, ‘I have to be that person.’ All you can be in your life is honest with yourself and I was getting to the point where I knew I wasn't being honest with myself.
“I was getting to the point where i didn't like myself because I wasn't being honest.”
Following his chat with Willoughby, Schofield was warmly greeted by Langsford and Holmes, who embraced him.
