Alison Hammond publicly supports Phillip Schofield amid reports he could return to This Morning
Alison Hammond has shown support for Phillip Schofield following reports that the presenter could be poised to make a sensational return to ITV’s This Morning.
Schofield fronted the the daytime show for more than two decades, but stepped down last year after admitting to having an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a younger male colleague.
Follow a year-long absence from social media, Schofield returned to posting on his profiles last month, sharing snaps of his extremely fluffy dog Alfie.
On Sunday, the dad-of-two shared another snap of his pooch from his living room, joking: "Not sure where rug ends and Alfie begins!!"
The comical post was a hit with his followers, including his former This Morning co-star Hammond, 49, who tapped “like” on it.
The move follows reports of poor rating figures for This Morning, as viewers switch off following fan favourite duo Schofield and Holly Willoughby exiting the show.
Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley officially took over in March, but have since reportedly "failed to connect with audiences”.
Viewing figures are said to have dropped significantly over the last two months, leading to "crisis talks" among bosses and job cuts across the network.
Shephard and Deeley got off to a promising start, but things have since gone south, according to The Sun.
The publication reports that peak viewing figures fell to 589,000 in May with an average of 486,000.
A spokesperson for This Morning disputed the claims, telling The Standard: "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."
A PR and crisis management expert meanwhile told The Mirror that they think welcoming Schofield back into the fold could be “crucial”.
They explained: “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."
