Pals' outrage for Holly amid talks to save crisis-hit show

Tributes paid on air as ITV bosses plot quick rebuild

- MARK JEFFERIES

ITV bosses are scrambling to secure the future of This Morning as friends of ex-host Holly Willoughby railed against how she had to quit the show.

One pal of Holly, 42, said it is outrageous that an "intelligent, brilliant woman who is a consummate professional had been forced to give up a job she loved because of things out of her control... It's a damning indictment of Britain today.

But they said recent events had left her fearing for her safety and she was "devastated" by the fallout.

ITV bosses face crisis meetings to save the brand after the "triple blow". It is reeling from the exits of both Phillip Schofield and Holly in just four months.

And it also lost the National TV Awards daytime prize for the first time in 12 years, in a sign it could be losing favour with the public.