Sofa Wars?

Woman’s Own columnist Dawn Neesom on the battle between Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield and their This Morning co-hosts Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes

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It’s become one of the nation’s most expensive and fiercely fought-over sofas. Forget giggles and cute pets, because the cosy world of daytime telly is kicking off big time and leading the charge is ITV’s flagship This Morning, with its stars caught up in a headline-grabbing pay row.

Come the New Year, the show is reportedly being extended by an extra half-hour – running from 10am (rather than 10.30am) to 12.30pm – every weekday to plug the ratings-sapping gap created by the axing of The Jeremy Kyle Show.

For this additional 30 minutes, it’s thought Monday-to-Thursday hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield are set to pocket an additional £150,000-a-year on top of the £600k they both already earn.

Yes, you read that right – an additional £150k for two hours extra a week. Nice work if you can get it, especially when the average salary of a registered nurse in the UK is £24,664, while a newly qualified police constable is just £20,880 a year.

A lazy comparison maybe, because the TV world is all about the marketplace. And mum-of-three Holly, 38, and dad-oftwo Phil, 57, are at the top of their game, surviving despite a vast swathe of young reality TV graduate wannabes snapping at their heels.