Alison Hammond shows her support for Phillip Schofield amid rumors he is returning to ITV and This Morning

Alison Hammond appears to be backing Phillip Schofield following rumors he could return to his previous role as host. Schofield, who was brought up in Newquay, where his mother still lives, quit ITV’s This Morning in May 2023 after a shock revelation of an “unwise but not illegal” relationship with a younger former colleague.

He admitted he lied to his bosses and family about the relationship, which left his career in tatters as the daytime show was mired in scandal. After a year-long hiatus from social media, the 62-year-old former Dancing on Ice host returned to the platform last month, sharing photos with his pet dog, Alfie.

On Sunday, June 9, the star posted another picture of his furry friend in his living room, joking: “Not sure where the rug ends and Alfie begins!!” His funny post quickly attracted comments from his followers, most notably Alison Hammond, his former This Morning co-star, who liked his post.

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His post comes as there have been reports of falling ratings for This Morning, with audiences flat since fan favorites Phillip and Holly Willoughby left the show. Back in March, it was leaked that Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard would take over the famous pair, but they allegedly “failed to connect with the audience”.

In the past two months, viewership has dropped substantially, reportedly resulting in “crisis talks” between studio heads and job cuts at the network.

The viewing figures indicated a promising start, but interest has since waned. In May, peak views fell to 589,000, with an average of 486,000, according to The Sun.

Speaking to The Mirror, a spokesperson for This Morning dismissed the claims and said: “Ben and Cat had their best audience reach of the year so far on This Morning, with 4.5 million viewers over a weeks”.

However, it is now being suggested that Phillip’s return could provide a much-needed boost to the programme. PR and crisis management expert Ed claimed in The Mirror that Phil is set to make a comeback soon.

He said: “Schofield has always proved popular. Now he proved to be flexible and disciplined. Attributes that will be absolutely crucial to the likes of ITV in years to come, and attributes that ITV showed a complete lack of in the way they handled the initial scandal. To put it simply: ITV needs Schofield far more than Schofield needs ITV