This Morning’s Alison Hammond ‘supports’ Phillip Schofield after ITV return rumours

This Morning star Alison Hammond has publicly shown support for her former co-star Phillip Schofield. The 62-year-old decided to leave his role on the ITV show last year after it emerged he once had an affair with a younger colleague.

Since then, Phillip remained silent on Instagram as he stepped out of the public eye. However, in May he broke his silence by sharing snaps of his adorable pooch called Alfie.

Over the weekend, the former ITV star posted two images of his chocolate-coloured dog in a bright orange life jacket. One image showed Alfie lovingly looking up at his owner on a sofa.

The other snap was a shot of Alfie sitting in between Phillip’s legs while on a canoe boat enjoying the sunshine. Alison, who now hosts For the Love of Dogs, was quick to like the post, showing support for her old colleague as he returns to social media.

Since his exit, there’s been speculation Phillip could be making a return to the show, following viewing figures taking a blow. According to The Sun, the average number tuning into the daytime show has dropped to just 486,000 in a matter of months.

It comes after the ITV show saw a huge presenter shake-up with Holly Willoughby also stepping down last year.

Speaking about a potential comeback, PR expert Edward Coram James told The Mirror: "Schofield has always proven himself to be popular.

“He's now proven himself to be flexible and disciplined. Attributes that will be absolutely crucial for the likes of ITV in the years ahead, and attributes that ITV showed a total lack of in the way that they handled the initial scandal.

“To put it simply: ITV needs Schofield a whole lot more than Schofield needs ITV."

Following Phillip and Holly’s exit, viewers saw Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard take the reins, while Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary continue to present the Friday show.

However, a spokesperson for the programme slammed the claims as they told The Mirror: "Ben and Cat have recorded the best audience reach of the year so far on This Morning with 4.5 million viewers across one week.”

It’s not just Alison who seems to be showing public support for Phillip as Dr Zoe Williams and Alice Beer commented on some of his posts with Alfie.

One image showed the pooch sitting at the end of a bed staring at the TV screen, which was playing Formula One racing.

Alice commented: “Funny! Stan cannot see anything on the tv Just doesn’t register.”

He replied: “I’d read that some dogs just don’t see it. He loves F1, Star Trek and Harry Potter (not keen on Mandrakes) Oh and he’s partial to a bit of news, but not if it’s too sad.”

This Morning continues weekdays on ITV from 10am.