HOLLY Willoughby will have to leave This Morning as she is “damaged goods”, a former ITV boss has said.

Ian McCulloch, a former commercial director of ITV, also said her claim of innocence no longer appears to be plausible.

He told GB News: “I do absolutely agree that none of the on-screen talent, well, those two, they cannot be associated with the show. She’s damaged goods.

“They need a fresh start. I’m not sure that the talent that they’ve got, sort of running through at the minute is the right talent. But I think the show is a good show, but you certainly can’t have those two.

“There is so much more to come out in this story. And I don’t think her statements are particularly plausible, though it looks as though she’s clinging on. I think they need to make a clean [break] and just move the show on.”

In a discussion with Andrew Pierce and Dawn Neesom, he said: “I think from an advertiser’s point of view, they buy the programme. I think if Phil and Holly are no longer there, the programme runs on.

“I suspect ratings are probably going up as people want to watch the unfolding car crash. But as you know, it reaches people. It’s a great show. They just let it go off the rails.”

He added: “This is about governance. It’s about creative governance, refreshing shows, not creating monsters that you then can’t control and we’ve seen it in so many shows.

“It’s happened again, the creative control isn’t there. They haven’t refreshed the show. We’ve got it in peak time with ITV, where you can see some shows are starting to look tired and they need resting.

“I think from the public’s point of view, this almost looks like an episode of Love Island. You put a bunch of egomaniacs together and see what’s going to explode, and over time this has exploded.”