Holly Willoughby, 41, jumped to defend best pal Phillip Schofield after Eamonn Holmes said he is ‘renowned for snubbing people’

Holly Willoughby has rushed to defend Phillip Schofield after Eamonn Holmes’ “below the belt” dig.

Eamonn, 62, claimed that Philip was “renowned for snubbing people” after he allegedly cut off Eamonn’s wife Ruth Langsford on Loose Women.

A source told OK! that Holly, 41, who has worked beside Phil for over 10 years, felt the need to “rally” around him.

“Phil’s This Morning family are rallying around him after the comments, none more so than Holly,” the insider said.

“It’s no secret there is no love lost between Phil and Eamonn but Holly felt she had to defend her ‘work husband’ after all the support he’s shown her over the years, particularly on the week he celebrated 40 years in showbiz.

The pair have presented This Morning together for years ( 
Image:
Dave Benett/Getty Images)
“She thought the comments were very below the belt”, she added.

Eamonn’s comments were made when he was asked about a clip of Phil cutting off Ruth during a live link to Loose Women.

He replied: “Phillip is renowned for snubbing people.

“He’s very passive-aggressive. It’s up to Ruth to say how she felt, but I was feeling hurt for her. No one would have snubbed me like that.”

Eamonn said that Phillip ‘snubs’ people
He joked: “I have a good Belfast street fighter in me… I would be direct. I don’t go for presenters who think they have a special privilege or aura or influence.”

The comments came after Eamonn reignited his feud with Phil, two years after Ruth launched an official complaint about him to bosses.

Holly credited Phillip for her own success within television after he celebrated 40 years in the industry this week.

Phil celebrated 40 years in the industry ( 
Image:
Instagram)She said: “Without a doubt, it if wasn’t for you, there is no way that I’d be doing This Morning today and I came onto the show and I was green and new.

“I knew how to do a bit of telly because I’d done Saturday morning but This Morning is a huge, grown-up, important, big telly show and I just sat there like a sponge and absorbed everything and learn everything.

Eamonn jumped to defend his wife Ruth Langsford
“[Phillip is] so generous, so kind, so patient, willing to guide me through.

“He still does it now, I’ll still look at him and go, ‘You do this bit,’ and he never looks at me like, ‘Really? Come on.'”

The pair were seen hugging at Holly’s Wylde Moon’s perfume launch.

Philip presented the show alone after his co-presenter Fern Britton left the show in 2009 after an alleged feud between the pair.

There were claims that she found out she was being paid £250,000 a year less than Phil – despite them working together.

In a clip, Phil appears to cut Ruth off – which Eamonn wasn’t impressed by ( 
Image:
ITV)
Do you enjoy reading about celebrities? Sign up for all the best celeb news from the Mirror here .

However, Fern shared a pre-recorded message to her former presenting husband where she congratulated him for his time on the show.

“Forty years is an incredible milestone and it’s time for you to stop and look back and see all that you have achieved and be proud of it.

“So I’m wishing you a very happy future. Congratulations and keep going,” she added.

After Fern left, Phil suggested Holly stepped in as her replacement.