For 15 years, they had been the best of friends, with proof of their rapport radiating from our TV screens every day as they sat together on the This Morning sofa.
But, in May of last year, following his sensational departure from the programme, Phillip Schofield parted ways with Holly Willoughby and put an end to their friendship.
And despite many fans hoping that the pair would make up, ahead of his new TV show, Cast Away, screened in October, Phillip was clear in his somewhat cryptic comments where he blamed three of his former colleagues for his demise, one of which was “a coward who never stepped up in Queuegate”, another who “is a coward because they never stepped up when I was being battered” and a third who “is just brand-orientated”.
Although he didn’t name names, there are no prizes for guessing who he was referring to and he and his former BFF are still keeping their distance from each other.
But falling out with your best friend isn’t something which is exclusive to the rich and famous. While many have been riveted by caustic comments and snide remarks between celebrities who have fallen out with each other, the reality is much less entertaining for those involved — and can cause a lot of hurt.
Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield are no longer friends
Anna Barry (name has been changed) can relate to this as she and her lifelong friend fell out a number of years ago, and although she “feels better without her”, she is also sad for the friendship they once had.
“We had been friends since we were in school, so we’ve known each other a long time” she says.
“But she was always the more confident one and I suppose, in hindsight, the more dominant of us and we usually did what she wanted to do.
“I never minded as I was happy to go along with anything and we had a lot of fun. However, if she suggested something, there was never any discussion about it, that is just what we did.
“We drifted apart a bit when we were in our early 20s as I went travelling and she got a job closer to home.
“But we still met up and would keep in regular contact, and when I returned after a year, it didn’t feel like much had changed.”
The 37-year-old, who has been living in Belfast for several years, says that things carried on as they were until she started a relationship with her now husband. Her friend “disapproved of him” and would “go out of her way to make subtle but snide comments” to show that she wasn’t keen.
“She was always the one who had a regular boyfriend and was way more experienced in that regard than I was,” Elaine says.
“She was in a full-blown physical relationship in her early teens and I was still at the naïve stage when kissing someone was a big deal, so she definitely revelled in being the one that would shock me and the rest of our friends with all she had got up to.
“Then when I started dating guys, we would usually go out as a foursome with whoever she was seeing at the time, and although we always had a laugh, none of our relationships were serious or lasted long.
“But that all changed when I met my husband as we clicked immediately and were friends for a while before we started going out with each other. We worked in the same company and initially hung out with other colleagues, but it wasn’t long before we started doing things without anyone else tagging along and then that transitioned naturally into us going out with each other.
“Right from the start, my friend was a bit cool about it. She said that she didn’t think we were really suited to each other and that she ‘knew his type’ and he would end up hurting me.
“I asked her what it was that made her say that, because as far as I was concerned, none of my relationships had ever felt as natural as this and we got on really well. He was, and still is kind, funny, courteous and easy on the eye.
“I figured that she was just jealous and that things would settle down as time went on.”
But sadly for the mother-of-one, things went from bad to worse and it wasn’t long before her friend actively “started stirring things up”.
“When it became clear to her that I wasn’t going to break up with him because she didn’t think he was a good fit for me, she began trying to cause trouble between us,” she says.
“At our engagement party, she got really drunk and tried it on with so many of the guys, including my fiancé. She denied it the next day and said he was flirting with her.
“Then, as time went on, and I began spending more time with him than her, she would keep ringing me when we were together or turn up at the house unannounced as there was always some drama which needed to be resolved.
“Then when my fiancé was out with his friends, she would tell me afterwards that although she didn’t believe it, someone she knew had seen him with another girl in town. I confronted him about this and we even had a few blazing rows about it before we realised what she was trying to do.
“So we made a plan and I told her that he was away for a night with his friends when he was actually at home and we waited to see what would happen. Sure enough, a couple of days later, she said that someone had seen him ‘looking cosy’ in a bar with someone else.
“I told her that he was actually with me and she blew up saying that the dates might be wrong, but it was clear that he was using me and ‘not as into me as I was into him’.
“We’d had a few drinks that night, so it might have been the alcohol talking, but she said the most hurtful things, including that I was really needy and was always the hanger-on in our friendship and would not have even been noticed if it wasn’t for her.
“It was truly shocking and made me realise that our relationship had always been completely one-sided. She was the boss and I was the one who hung on her every word and, as soon as I did something independently of her, she didn’t like it and went out of her way to try to sabotage it for me.
“Hearing her say those things, even though she was drunk, was really hurtful and it was the end of the friendship for me.”
Anna says that after finding out what her friend “was really like”, she decided to distance herself from the relationship, and although she misses the fun they had as teenagers, says that she feels relieved that she is “no longer playing second fiddle”.
“After that night, I made the decision to cut her out of my life,” she says.
“I was so upset about all the things that she said to me, and although my boyfriend, now husband, said she probably didn’t mean it and only said stuff because she’d had too much to drink and was afraid of losing me, I knew that, deep down, she meant every word.
“I had always been in her shadow and never had much confidence in myself, but as soon as I came out of myself and began to be more independent, she didn’t like it and lashed out at me. She has always been very stubborn and whenever we had an argument in the past, I always made the first move, but this time, I walked out and didn’t call her the next day.
“The days turned into weeks, and before I knew it, I was preparing to get married and we were still not talking. In the past, we had promised to be each other’s bridesmaids, so it felt really weird not having her there.
“But I felt that she should have apologised, so I wasn’t going to beg her to be my friend. We moved away not long after, so that makes it easier and I have a husband who loves me and lots of great friends. However, even after almost a decade, it still hurts that I had a good friend who stabbed me in the back and didn’t even think there was a reason to say sorry.
“Of course, I miss the fun and the laughs we had and would have loved to share my wedding and my experience of motherhood with her as she would no doubt have had an outrageous take on it. But if someone can be cruel and uncaring and not think that there was anything wrong with it, then there is no going back and I’m better off without her.”