More than 1.6million Britons watched Holly Willoughby make an emotional return to This Morning yesterday after Phillip Schofield’s departure from the ITV show.
Data from Overnights TV released today showed the daytime programme had a peak audience of 1,633,410, and an average between 10am and 12.30pm of 834,840.
This average figure was the show’s highest since May 8, which was the Monday at the end of King Charles III’s Coronation weekend when 895,000 tuned in.
The average audience for the last three months on This Morning has been 701,000 – meaning yesterday’s peak figure was more than double the normal average.
On Willoughby’s much-anticipated return yesterday, said she felt ‘shaken, troubled, let down and worried’ about the events that led to Schofield’s departure.
Willoughby appeared on screen for the first time following the exit of her former co-host and his subsequent revelation of an affair with a younger ITV male employee.
Holly Willoughby was joined by Josie Gibson on her return to This Morning yesterday
Holly Willoughby and co-presenter Josie Gibson hold hands on This Morning yesterday
MailOnline can also reveal that This Morning lost nearly 100,000 viewers in the days after Schofield returned in April following leave for his brother’s sex abuse trial.
Schofield took pre-planned leave from the ITV show around the trial at Exeter Crown Court last month, and was off between Monday, March 27 and Friday, April 14.
In the week before Schofield returned to the show on April 17, the average audience for the five days was 725,000. But in the week that he returned, it was 658,000.
And comparing the same day week-on-week, the Wednesday was down by the most at 99,000 – from 687,000 on April 12 to 588,000 on April 19 – while the other days fell by between 44,000 and 65,000.
Data compiled by MailOnline from Overnights TV figures also showed that the This Morning audience went up when Schofield went on leave on March 27.
In the week before he went away, the average audience for the week was 699,000, while the week that he went on leave was 738,000 – an increase of 39,000.
Schofield’s brother Timothy was convicted on April 3 of 11 sexual offences involving a child between 2016 and 2019, including two of sexual activity with a child.
Holly Willoughby arrives at Television Centre in White City, West London, this morning
Phillip Schofield told the BBC last week that Willoughby did not know about the affair
Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on the sofa of ITV’s This Morning last month, on May 11
Yesterday, Willoughby said while seated next to her temporary co-host Josie Gibson: ‘Josie, thank you for being here. Right, deep breath.’
She continued: ‘Firstly, are you OK? I hope so. It feels very strange indeed sitting here without Phil. And I imagine that you might have been feeling a lot like I have – shaken, troubled, let down, worried for the wellbeing of people on all sides of what’s been going on, and full of questions.’
During interviews last week, Schofield told The Sun and the BBC that Willoughby did not know about the ‘unwise, but not illegal’ affair, and has apologised for lying to her.
Dressed in a sleeveless white buttoned dress, Willoughby continued: ‘You, me and all of us at This Morning gave our love and support to someone who was not telling the truth, who acted in a way that they themselves felt that they had to resign from ITV, and step down from a career that they loved. That is a lot to process.
‘And it’s equally hard to see the toll that it’s taken on their own mental health.
‘I think what unites us all now is a desire to heal, for the health and wellbeing of everyone.’
Schofield has spoken about the toll the fallout of the scandal has had on his mental health, telling The Sun it has had a ‘catastrophic effect’ on his mind and he is currently getting by ‘hour by hour’.
In a statement she wrote herself, Willoughby thanked viewers for their support, saying: ‘I hope that as we start this new chapter, and get back to a place of warmth and magic that this show holds for all of us, we can find strength in each other.
‘And from my heart, can I just say thank you for all of your kind messages and thank you for being here this morning.
‘Myself, Josie, Dermot (O’Leary), Alison (Hammond), Craig (Doyle), and every single person that works on this show will continue to work hard every single day to bring you that, this show that we love.’
Former This Morning presenter Eamonn Holmes and the show’s former resident doctor Dr Ranj Singh have both separately made allegations about the culture behind the scenes at the programme in the wake of Schofield’s departure.
ITV boss Dame Carolyn McCall has been called to a parliamentary committee on June 14 to answer questions about the broadcaster’s approach to safeguarding and complaint handling following Schofield’s exit.
An overnight report in The Sun suggested Schofield indicated he would not be watching Willoughby’s return to screen, with a friend telling the publication he ‘physically could not watch – he’s not there yet’.
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