Holly Willoughby 'responds to Phillip Schofield's witch jibe'

The former ITV This Morning presenters have not been speaking

Holly Willoughby reportedly 'couldn't care less' after her former friend Phillip Schofield allegedly branded her 'a witch'. Phillip is thought to have coined the cruel nickname for his former co-host after they fell out last year.

The 62-year-old accused Holly of not supporting him after he was dropped from ITV This Morning, saying: "You brought me down." Holly is also thought to be one of the people Phillip branded as his "three s****" during his TV comeback on Channel 5's Cast Away.

But Holly, 43, is said to have shrugged off the comments. The mum-of-three is yet to publicly respond to the jibes but friends say she is not bothered.

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A source told The Sun: "Holly isn't batting an eyelid at this, it's like she couldn't care less. Phil is coming across as incredibly bitter.

"Holly knows who her friends are and they're the people she pays attention to." Those close to Holly said she was 'vindicated' for distancing herself from Phillip after he confirmed he had lied to her about his relationship with a younger colleague.

Phillip complained during his recent TV return that bad publicity over his paedophile brother's crimes that triggered his sacking. A friend said: "Phil feels that he was sacked because of the bad press around his brother.

"Everyone knew about Tim’s arrest — including Holly. They had a backstage make-up room called The Sanctuary at This Morning, where Phil first assembled trusted pals including Holly and told them, tearfully, about his brother.

"Holly held his hand and was super-kind. She supported Phil and was disgusted by what his brother had done." A friend said that Phillip was hurt when Holly cut him off and he still feels 'betrayed'.