THIS Morning’s Alison Hammond has broken her silence on Jane McDonald presenting the Soap Awards after her former co-star Phillip Schofield stepped down.
Last week the ceremony was thrown into chaos after Phillip dropped a bombshell statement saying he had quit ITV entirely and the award show, which he has hosted since 2006.
Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary wished
Phillip is not presenting The Soap Awards this year
Jane McDonald is hosting the ceremony this year
Phillip made the shock decision after it was revealed he had an affair with a much younger male ITV employee – just a week after he was dropped from This Morning.
Yesterday The Celeb Report exclusively revealed that Phillip’s replacement is BAFTA Award winning TV star Jane McDonald.
Today Phillip’s former This Morning co-stars Alison and Dermot O’Leary mentioned her new venture.
After this show’s soap expert Sharon Marshall visited the set of Hollyoaks village, the presenting duo mentioned tomorrow’s huge TV event.
The pair wished Jane good luck, and Alison said: “I think she’ll be great at that.”
The British Soap Awards is due to take place in Manchester tomorrow.
They have now taken the decision to delete any mention of Phil from their official website.
Jane is best known for her Channel 5 series Cruising With Jane and her previous role on ITV’s Loose Women.
Ahead of hosting the awards, Jane said: “Oh my god…everyone knows how much I LOVE my soaps, this year I’ve been honoured to be mentioned in Corrie, EastEnders and Emmerdale, so this is just a dream come true.
“I can’t wait to see all our wonderful soap nominees and celebrate all their hard work with them – roll on the awards, I can’t wait.”
Last week Phillip made the shock decision to quit the awards show after it was revealed he had an affair with a much younger male ITV employee – just a week after he was dropped from This Morning.
Phil’s exit was confirmed after weeks of intense speculation about his future and a feud with co-host Holly Willoughby, 42 — as an insider revealed the row was even putting off guests from appearing with them.
