Holly Willoughby has put to bed rumours of tension on the set of This Morning after a recent magazine cover featuring her and co-host Phillip Schofield was said to have caused an upset.
Hours after reports of a two month feud between the popular presenters emerged, Holly, 38, took to Instagram on Sunday and wished Phillip, 57, a happy Father's Day, calling him one of her closest friends.
She wrote: 'Talking of important men in my life on Father's Day. Here's another one. My partner on the telly and one of my best friends in the world... love you @schofe.'
Her say: Holly Willoughby has put to bed rumours of tension on the set of This Morning with her co-host Phillip Schofield by posting a gushing Instagram message about her 'best friend'
Phillip responded in kind and also sent his well wishes to Holly's husband Dan Baldwin. He wrote: 'Awww thank you bestie. Love you too. Happy Father's Day to Dan xxxx.'
The pair appeared on the cover of The Sunday Times Magazine in April, in a joint interview about their on-screen partnership and off-screen friendship.
But, despite the humorous photo shoot that accompanied the article on April 7, Phillip was said to have been left seething since the piece went to print, after graphic designers chose to superimpose a crown onto Holly 's head in the picture, splashing the words 'Queen Holly' underneath the image of the two of them.
The article's sub-heading evidently rubbed salt into this wound, as it read: 'How Holly Willoughby eclipsed Phillip Schofield and became Britain's hottest TV star.'
Defiant: Rumours aside, Holly was quick to take to Instagram on Sunday to honour Father's Day with a touching post to her pal, to which Phil responded
According to The Sun, Phillip, 57, has been stewing over this for the past two months, even letting it get in the way of the The Morning Live event that he and Holly, 38, co-hosted in mid-May.
'To say there has been a bit of tension is an understatement,' a source told the publication. 'When the magazine dropped, Phillip was fuming that Holly had a crayon crown airbrushed on to her head while he was crown-less and pictured grumpily looking on in her shadow.
'Phillip was pretty peeved, to say the least — not with Holly but with how he had been usurped. For her part, Holly was also quite mortified and felt terrible. ITV, who set up the interview, kicked off and his team promptly received a letter of apology to smooth things over.
'Tensions spilled out into the Birmingham live event when Phillip was grumbling about it. It quickly became the talk of the set. Phillip basically stuck his neck on the line for Holly and got her the job on This Morning back in the day. Understandably, the whole thing was a bit galling.'
