This Morning host Dermot O’Leary takes a swipe at the show’s ‘TOXIC’ environment

This Morning star Dermot O’Leary took a swipe at the show’s explosive scandals with a jibe about toxicity on Friday’s show. 

Last month, Phillip Schofield, 61, left the show after admitting to an affair with a younger man which he branded ‘ill-advised but not illegal’.

In an interview with BBC following the unveiling of the scandal, he was forced to weather claims that he enforced a toxic environment behind the scenes. 

As the scandal continues to rumble, there has been much talk about Phillip in the showbiz world, yet the stars of This Morning, including Dermot and fellow favourite Alison Hammond, have remained eerily quiet. 

This however was thrown out on Friday’s episode of the magazine show, when producers played Britney Spears’ 2003 hit Toxic, leading to Dermot stating: ‘Don’t mention the T word!’, before asking bosses ‘what they were thinking’. 

As his co-host Alison Hammond laughed at the comment when he pointed up and said: ‘What were you thinking of up there?’, she added: ‘Don’t do it again’. 

While larking around, Dermot added: ‘Sorry I just dribbled out of my mouth. I’m all over the place today. I’ve got hayfever, I’m dribbling – am I getting old?…

‘It’s one of those days today.’

The scenes come shortly after Phillip’s scandal erupted, in which he confessed he had lied about an affair with a member of staff on the show. 

As well as news of the romance, claims of the backstage behaviour came out. 

Dr Ranj Singh, who was a regular guest on This Morning, accused the show of having a ‘toxic’ culture of bullying and discrimination, adding that he had taken his concerns to ‘the top’ but felt he had been ‘managed out’ and was dropped from screens.

After Phillip issued his statement insisting there had been ‘no toxicity’ at This Morning, his former co-star Eamonn Holmes branded him ‘delusional’.

Eamonn – who previously helped present This Morning but now works for GB News – issued a scathing response to the statement and said that if Schofield was ‘looking for a fight’ he had ‘picked on the wrong person’.

The 63-year-old tweeted: ‘Schofield has just put out a delusional statement…

‘Like Holly he puts it on Insta Stories so if it goes wrong there is no record after 24 hrs. I’m reluctant to give the liar any more publicity but believe me Pip if u r looking for a fight , u have picked on the wrong person!’

Holmes has been critic of Schofield for a number of years, believing he would get his ‘comeuppance’ for the way he’s treated others – including wife Ruth Langsford.

He and Schofield were never close, but appreciated each other’s broadcasting styles and worked professionally alongside each other.

But all that changed in 2019, when Langsford filed an official complaint against Schofield after being cut off mid-link by the presenter as she was explaining what was coming up on the show during a mini-segment on This Morning.

Schofield said: ‘Guys, we’re going to have to jump in there and stop you I’m afraid because we’re a bit tight for time at this end. Thank you, Ruth.’

A clearly unimpressed Langsford responded: ‘Well I only had about two more words to say,’ and looked away from the camera.

Speaking about the incident in the Daily Mail’s Weekend magazine in February 2022, Holmes went public in his condemnation for Schofield, saying his wife is one of many people in the industry to be ‘snubbed’ by the presenter.