Holly Willoughby enjoys a girls night out with pal Nicole Appleton
by Lily Jobson For Mailonline · Mail OnlineHolly Willoughby enjoyed a girls' night out with close pal Nicole Appleton on Sunday, amid the drama surrounding Phillip Schofield.
The former This Morning presenter, 43, let her hair down as she watched Nicole's, 49, son Gene Gallagher perform with his band Villanelle in concert.
The blonde duo looked incredibly stylish in their vibrant black leather jackets and sipped on cocktails in the crowd.
Sharing snaps on her Instagram stories, Holly captioned her post: 'One very proud Mumma... @nicoleappleton'.
Holly has been friends with Nicole - the ex-wife of Oasis hitmaker Liam Gallagher - for many years.
Gene's father Liam began dating Nicole in 2000 and married in 2008 before they split in 2014 following his affair with Liza Ghorbani.
Carefree Holly has ruled out any reconciliation with her former best friend Phillip, 62, who reportedly sent her message on WhatsApp the day before news of his This Morning axe became public, claiming she had 'brought him down'.
Tensions between the pair reached further heights when Phil boldly declared there were 'three s**ts' at ITV on his Channel 5 show Cast Away last week.
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Holly Willoughby 'never wants to speak to Phillip Schofield again'
Phil has also severed more ties within the TV industry as Holly's husband Dan Baldwin, who co-owns the production company Hungry Bear, responsible for shows such as Gladiators and Michael McIntyre's Big Show is 'furious' with Phil.
A source told MailOnline: 'The friendship between Holly and Phil is well and truly over, there is no way she is going to speak to him again after this.
'Holly's TV producer husband Dan is also furious about Phil's behaviour towards her.
'From rumours he refers to her as 'the Witch' in messages with friends to his barbed jibe about the 'three s***s in showbiz' in his Channel 5 show Cast Away, Dan has well and truly had enough.'
MailOnline has contacted Holly's representatives for comment.
He then admitted to having an affair with a junior colleague and left ITV altogether.
The pair used to be best friends, with their families even taking annual holidays together, but the bitter feud appears to have been reignited with Phillip now referring to his once close pal as 'the witch'.
Phillip is said to have told Holly that she 'brought him down' before he resigned from This Morning.
The Daily Mirror reported Schofield sent the accusation in a WhatsApp message and said she should have publicly supported him following their fall out.
He then blamed her for not doing so, saying it then prompted him to stand down after 21 years on the ITV show.
Phillip, who made a TV comeback last week on Channel 5's Cast Away, had asked her for a public show of support such as a statement or picture together in the hope it would halt claims they had fallen out.
After he sent the WhatsApp, Holly reportedly replied she was in the dark about what was going on.
But friends of Phillip say he was so upset that he reported Holly to two senior ITV bosses. MailOnline has contacted ITV for comment.
A source told The Mirror: 'Phillip considered her a friend, his TV sister as he called her, and always backed her, even recommending her to do the jungle. Her lack of public support was a low blow in his eyes.'
Phillip and his management were also said to be deeply suspicious of her PR team and were unhappy they weren't correcting 'false narratives running riot'.
Another factor in their fall out was said to be that Holly was unaware of the full details of his paedophile brother Timothy's crimes.
Phillip's 54-year-old brother was convicted in April 2023 of 11 sexual offences involving a child between October 2016 and October 2019, including two of sexual activity with a child.
While she and ITV were aware of a forthcoming trial last March, Schofield is understood to have not told her the full extent of it.
One showbusiness insider said: 'You can see what Phil is doing, he is angry and he is taking his moment in the limelight, slinging more mud while people are interested in him.
'Phil's career ended because he lied, he resigned from ITV when he lied about having an affair with a much younger colleague. To say this is Holly's fault is just ridiculous. Talk about blame the woman.'
Friends of Holly point to the fact that she was entirely vindicated for her falling out with Schofield after it emerged he had lied about his relationship with a younger colleague.
Holly said last year he had been dishonest with her about the affair, as he had also been to ITV, his agent YMU and his family. He also lied to the Mail about it and admitted the truth in a statement to us last May.
'Phil is a self-confessed and proven liar so things he says have to be taken with a pinch of salt,' a source said: 'He lied to his colleagues, his employers and the media, let's not forget that.'
Following rumours that they had fallen out last May, Phillip left Holly devastated when he made a public statement to discuss their friendship.
He said: 'The last few weeks haven't been easy for either of us. As I have said before, Holly is my rock.
'We're the best of friends – as always, she is an incredible support on screen, behind the scenes and on the phone.
'Holly has always been there for me, through thick and thin. And I've been there for her.'
Friends of Holly said at the time said she was 'blindsided' by his outburst.