The day after Ant McPartlin's shock drink-drive arrest, This Morning's Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield kept schtum on the subject.
But now, Holly has spoken out about her friend's decision to return to rehab and the way in which it was handled on the show.
Speaking in a candid interview with The Guardian, Fearne Cotton's pal denied deliberately avoiding the subject of Ant that day and said, "Everybody knows that Ant is a very good friend of mine and I've known him for a very long time.
"To be honest, on that first day nobody knew what had happened and you know it's an ongoing police case right now...
"I love him to bits, it's not something that I find easy to talk about. Because it's a friend. His is not my story to tell. He's just got to look after himself, that's all."
Fans were furious when the stars made no mention of the TV star in the wake of his arrest, while Lorraine Kelly chose to address it earlier that morning.
Taking to social media to vent, viewers claimed the show had "double standards" and suggested they were favouring the Britain's Got Talent regular by ignoring the subject of their friend.
Ant was arrested on suspicion of drink driving last month after colliding with two other vehicles in London.
He had just taken his dog for a walk in Richmond Park alongside his mother before the accident happened.
The star, who recently separated from his wife Lisa Armstrong, made the quick decision to return to rehab, leaving Declan Donnelly to present Saturday Night Takeaway alone.
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