Holly Willoughby delighted her Instagram followers this week with a post promoting a wine for her friend, the celebrity chef James Martin.
Purely by coincidence, the post followed the announcement that a wine company called When in Rome had dropped a wine promoted by her former fellow presenter, Phillip Scofield.
There may have been hints that the main This Morning presenter was taking a little sideswipe at her disgraced colleague by plugging Martin’s wine collection not long after Schofield had lost his.
The wine company When in Rome dropped the fallen star days after he admitted lying to his management, ITV and colleagues over a relationship with a younger colleague.
It wasn’t the only deal Schofield lost — WeBuyAnyCar, Boots, the Craft Gin Club and the Princes Trust all severed ties with the 61-year-old. And having had the plug pulled on his wine collaboration, it appears Willoughby had no issues with promoting James Martin’s product on social media.
Uploading the endorsement on Instagram, she admitted she had sunk a glass or two from the TV chef’s collection.
Late last month, Phillip apologised for his actions after saying he had “lied” to his employers as well as the public and most importantly, his family.
In a grovelling statement, he said: “I have already apologised personally for misleading, through my lawyer who I also misled, about a story which they wanted to write about me a few days ago.
“The first thing I want to say is: I am deeply sorry for having lied to them, and to many others about a relationship that I had with someone working on This Morning.
“I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning.
“Contrary to speculation, whilst I met the man when he was a teenager and was asked to help him to get into television, it was only after he started to work on the show that it became more than just a friendship. That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over.”
The presenter went on to say: “When I chose to come out I did so entirely for my own wellbeing. Nobody ‘forced’ me out.
“Neither I nor anyone else, to my knowledge, has ever issued an injunction, super or otherwise, about my relationship with this colleague, he was never moved on or sacked by or because of me.”
A week after the confession, he revealed he was “utterly broken and ashamed” – but stressed he did not groom the younger man.
READ MORE: BBC forced to respond to flurry of complaints over Phillip Schofield coverage
She captioned a photo of the bottle: “Testing this out for our rose demo tomorrow. Purely for research purposes. Thanks James Martin, it’s delicious.” The Mirror reported that the upload followed a smiling pose she shot with stand-in presenter Dermot O’Leary.
Schifield’s partnership with When In Rome came to an abrupt end three years after joining forces with the Stroud-based firm. A spokeswoman told the Mirror: “We have worked with Phillip Schofield on his range of Italian craft wines for three years and this collaboration has drawn to a natural conclusion. There are no further plans to continue filling the Schofield range for future orders.”
At the time of the launch of his collaboration, the 61-year-old said: “I have really enjoyed the process of sourcing, selecting and now sharing these wines with everyone. I don’t think there is anything I have been so passionate about, so I hope everyone enjoys them as much as I do.”
Late last month, the former star apologised for his actions after admitting he had “lied” to his employers as well as the public and his family. In a statement, he said: “I have already apologised personally for misleading, through my lawyer who I also misled, about a story which they wanted to write about me a few days ago.
“The first thing I want to say is: I am deeply sorry for having lied to them, and to many others about a relationship that I had with someone working on This Morning.
“I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning.
“Contrary to speculation, whilst I met the man when he was a teenager and was asked to help him to get into television, it was only after he started to work on the show that it became more than just a friendship. That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over.”
The presenter went on to say: “When I chose to come out I did so entirely for my own wellbeing. Nobody ‘forced’ me out.
“Neither I nor anyone else, to my knowledge, has ever issued an injunction, super or otherwise, about my relationship with this colleague, he was never moved on or sacked by or because of me.”
A week after the confession, he revealed he was “utterly broken and ashamed” – but stressed he did not groom the younger man.
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