Inside Holly Willoughby & Amanda Holden’s toxic feud – & the real reasons they don’t get along
HOLLY WILLOUGHBY and Amanda Holden both love a glass of champagne – but they will never be drinking buddies.
The two telly glamour girls will be sitting at opposite ends of the garden at this year’s ITV summer party, sticking to their own pals and inner circles, and watching each other’s movements to avoid an awkward encounter.
Their bitter rivalry was made public on Tuesday when Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda posted a video “mocking” This Morning host Holly’s opening statement on her return to the daytime show a day earlier.
Holly had sought to address her former This Morning co-presenter Phillip Schofield’s shock departure from the programme — only for Amanda to later repeat her rival’s now infamous “Are you OK?” gambit and hilariously mimic her look in a similar white outfit.
But insiders say tension between the pair has been bubbling under the surface for some time, and been amplified by Schofield’s downfall.
An industry source says: “It’s well known in TV circles that Holly and Amanda have never been close.
“From the outside, you would expect them to have a relationship, but it’s fairly non-existent.
‘Secretly gripe’
“They’ve been pitted against each other for certain big jobs, so there’s a competitive element which doesn’t lend itself to a friendship.
“Both are highly ambitious but there are many traits in their person-alities and their behaviour within the industry that secretly gripe one another. The Schofield drama has just brought their rivalry to the fore and Amanda, in particular, couldn’t resist making it public.
“Given the many similarities they share, you would expect them to have little beef. Alas, this is not the case.”
It is understood that Amanda feels her actions are justified after she previously drew attention to issues relating to This Morning.
While Holly has always refused to criticise her ITV colleague, Amanda has a pretty much been lone voice in raising concerns about the “toxic” morning show for some time.
Holly, 42, and Amanda, 52, worth £10million and £4million respectively, enjoy lavish lifestyles and holidays.
While Holly worked her way up from kids’ telly to become the queen of daytime, Amanda took the more unconventional route of ex-Blind Date contestant to actress, before becoming an award-winning talent show judge — with the dirtiest but most infectious laugh in showbiz.
Their partners are in the industry, too. Holly’s husband, Dan Baldwin, is a top TV producer while Amanda’s other half, Chris Hughes, is high up at the talent agency YMU.
Holly and Amanda also both possess huge social media profiles.
Holly has 8.3million followers on her Instagram and Amanda two million — and posts from both stars spark attention.
Fashion brands want to work with them, knowing a photo in a certain outfit will be seen by their huge fanbases and millions of TV viewers.
Whenever Holly posts a picture of an ensemble she wears on This Morning, the collection often sells out.
And with each chest-baring dress Amanda shows off on BGT, the internet goes into meltdown — while watchdog Ofcom’s complaints department also gets busy.
Designers clearly feel the pair have similar styles, given the times they have worn near-identical outfits — such as the now-viral white frock Holly wore during her This Morning comeback, which Amanda subsequently mocked.
So why can’t these telly favourites simply get along with each other?
Insiders claim Amanda has always questioned Holly’s “golden girl” tag at ITV, believing the star should be on a more equal footing with her fellow presenters.
A source says: “This isn’t a standard anti-feminist stance, pitching a woman against a woman — there is a lot of mutual respect.
“Amanda doesn’t have any issues with Holly’s quality as a presenter, but the whiter-than-white image she portrays is perhaps a tad grating.
“With every big job that comes up at ITV, Holly always seems at the top of people’s thoughts when there is a lot of great talent to choose from.
“Amanda, quite reasonably, feels up-and-coming stars are sometimes discounted as Holly is the obvious pick for so many executives.”
The pair are both embedded in the showbiz scene but with different pals, who are very much Team Amanda or Team Holly.
Holly’s friends include fellow TV hosts Christine Lampard and Kate Thornton, actress Tamzin Outhwaite, Spice Girl Emma Bunton and All Saints singer Nicole Appleton, and she regularly posts pictures with them all out partying.
But whereas Holly rarely works with any of her clan, Amanda’s social circle is far more in line with her TV and radio jobs.
She is close with Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts — since they began working together on HeartFM — as well as with her BGT co-judges Simon Cowell and Alesha Dixon, and comedian Alan Carr.
Meanwhile, sources close to Holly claim she believes Amanda has too much sway in the industry.
This was evident when Amanda encouraged Cowell to give Carr a judging job on the ITV talent series, replacing David Walliams — although the position was eventually filled by ex-Strictly judge Bruno Tonioli.
‘Showbiz queen bee’
A source close to Holly added: “Amanda is a queen bee of showbiz and hugely connected. She has the power to get her pals in a position to bag big jobs and Holly has questioned how she’s allowed to have become so influential.”
Their relationship has been further complicated by the role of Amanda’s husband Chris at YMU, where he is group executive director.
Holly quit the same showbiz agency, formally known as James Grant, in 2020 to create her own talent firm, Roxy Management — opting to work with a newly set-up all-female line-up.
It did not go down well at YMU.
Holly and Amanda have never worked with each other but Amanda’s stint filling in for Holly on This Morning in 2018, while she filmed I’m A Celeb in Australia, sparked her feud with Phillip.
She discovered the shamed host had hoped Rochelle Humes would be Holly’s stand-in — and Amanda confronted him about it.
Amanda and Phillip’s relationship never recovered, as she lost all respect for him.
Insiders close to her have said this led to her questioning how Holly could work so closely with him for so many years.
Amanda spoke up about Phillip’s alleged behaviour on set to ITV bosses, but Holly continued to stay mute — which, again, understandably riled her.
A source added: “These past few weeks have also been incredibly tough for Holly and she didn’t want, or ask for, this attention.
“She’s done nothing wrong. And it must be noted that Amanda is very sympathetic to this predicament — both women know what it’s like to be thrust into a media storm.”
But whether or not the pair can one day bury the hatchet remains to be seen. Early indications suggest that may be rather a long way off.