Simon Cowell has become the latest famous face to weigh in on reports about a rumoured feud between Amanda Holden and Phillip Schofield, praising his Britain’s Got Talent colleague for “standing up for herself”.
In recent weeks, numerous articles have claimed Amanda and Phil are no longer pals, with the This Morning host pouring cold water on the reports and labelling the stories “hurtful and wildly untrue”.
Amanda has been more cryptic with her responses though, even revealing that she tried to reach out to Phillip “months ago”, by offering to meet up for a coffee. The outcome of that, she claimed, was that “he didn’t reply to my text”.
Simon, who is Amanda’s boss as well as fellow BGT panelist, has now praised how she’s dealt with the situation, telling the Sun on Sunday: “I respect her for standing up for herself.”
When asked if he’s “on her side”, Simon pointed out that he’s booked Amanda to judge the new BGT Champions show which will start filming later this month.
“She’s back on the show,” he told the paper. “I can’t make it clearer than that.”
Simon also revealed that he called Amanda when fans began speculating over whether the alleged feud could endanger her seat on the BGT panel.
He explained: “People were ringing to ask if Amanda was going to be fired, and as her boss I called her to say that wasn’t the case.
“I wanted to give her that reassurance that it was never ever going to affect her relationship with me and Britain’s Got Talent. She is hired for the Champions version and any other shows she wants to do.
“Yes, I did respect her for standing up for herself. But I spoke to her as her employer and she appreciated the call.”
Amanda confirmed to the paper that she received a call from Simon, stating: “We discussed headlines and he was extremely supportive. He is one of my dearest friends.”
Recent weeks have seen everyone from Piers Morgan to Fern Britton’s former agent share their thoughts on the alleged feud.
Good Morning Britain presenter Piers paid a visit to Amanda’s new Heart breakfast radio show, which prompted one fan to tweet him and say: “Good for you Mr Morgan. At a time when Amanda is getting such a lot of unnecessary criticism for being honest, it’s good to see she has some genuine friends.”
Piers swiftly responded with his own post, noting: “Trust me, [Amanda] is one of the nicest & most genuine people in this tawdry business – and I’ve met most of them…”
Amanda and Phillip’s feud is thought to stem back to when Holly Willoughby took time off This Morning to co-present I’m A Celebrity in 2018.
While reports suggested earlier this year that Amanda had been told she would be filling in for Holly, the job ended up going to Rochelle Humes, with The Sun suggesting Phillip had pushed for this to happen.
ITV bosses have since denied this was the case, with a spokesperson issuing a statement which read: “These reports are completely untrue,. Presenters don’t make decisions regarding who appears on the show.”
