'I've lost my best friend!' Phillip Schofield no longer speaks to Holly Willoughby

Phillip Schofield no longer speaks to Holly Willoughby.

The 61-year-old star had fronted 'This Morning' with Holly, 41, for 14 years when he sensationally quit the ITV daytime show amid rumours of a feud before revealing that he had had an extramarital affair with a younger male colleague and insisted that his former co-star had no knowledge of the fling as he claimed that it is the media "witch hunt" that has torn their friendship apart.

He told The Sun newspaper: "I’ve lost my best friend. I let her down (Holly). I let that entire show down. I let the viewers down. Holly did not know (about the romance). And she was one of the first texts that I sent, to say, ‘I am so, so sorry that I lied to you’. She didn’t reply and I understand why she didn’t reply, as well. So yeah. If anyone is in any way linking Holly to this; that is ­absolutely, wholly untrue. I had no feud with Holly. She is my TV sister. But quite rightly, when I am in the middle of a s**t show with bad press over something where I have done nothing wrong — in fact, I did everything right — it’s a witch hunt. And that strips that (friendship) away."

Phil - who also hosted 'Dancing on Ice' with Holly for a number of years but quit the broadcaster altogether following the revelations - went on to add that he "understands" his former co-star's decision to take a break away from the show as he lambasted the situation as "vicious game" that was becoming "bigger" than the show itself.

He added: "Quite rightly, she is going to take a step back and think, ‘I have to step back from this’, and I understand that completely.

“As we see now, this is a vicious game and the last thing you want is for something to stick on you.

“It was becoming bigger than the people we had on the show. I understand that.”