Hell hath no fury like Brits who witness queue-jumping.
The UK might claim to be a nation that loves to queue, but if you've ever tried to grab a London Tube at rush hour on a Monday morning, you'll know it's survival of the fittest. Nice try Becky, I see you there with your trainers on and your heels in your work bag, but it's my turn to squeeze in under some man's armpit. This third attempt at boarding the Northern Line train is mine.
And so, when the 'This Morning' and 'Dancing on Ice' presenters apparently skipped the queue to see The Queen in her resting place in Westminster Hall last week, all hell broke loose on Twitter calling out the queue-jumpers. Thousands of other mourners were waiting for up to 17 hours in order to pay their respects (including actor Tilda Swinton) and people called out the pair for whizzing past.
Since then, the situation has gone from bad to worse for the presenters. A petition called "Axe Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby from TV" has surfaced, and at the time of writing, the number of people who have signed the movement is at 37,000 and counting.
The Holly and Phil petition, which was started by "Laura", reads: "Thousands of people are lining up overnight to pay respects to the Queen, where they will likely wait up to 24 hours.
"Yet Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield, two hosts of one of the most damaging to mental health day time tv show This Morning, were able to push past those thousands and get immediate access.
"ITV should be ashamed of exploiting the situation. [...] If you agree please sign. If enough people sign we can show ITV that the public do matter. And these two idiots don't deserve our time.
"PS. It doesn't matter about your feelings on the monarchy, its about the TV show being toxic and these presenters being given privileges that deprive others, and humiliate their own viewers in the process. In the same way Jeremy Kyle's show did."
Holly and Phil released a statement earlier this week which said they "were given official permission to access the Hall" and although it "may have looked like something else" they wanted the public to know they "would never jump a queue" due to their status.
It's been an interesting couple of weeks for the 'This Morning' presenters. Due to the spiralling cost of living crisis, the ITV show came under fire for making light of the situation by offering to pay callers energy bills if they got through to them in studio. Described as "tone deaf" by viewers, the segment returned later in the week with just cash prize giveaways instead.
Check out the axe Holly and Phil petition (or sign it if you're feeling ruffled too) here.
