On Wednesday afternoon, Holly Willoughby shared a group photo taken from the This Morning Christmas party, which saw many familiar faces sitting around a table. These included Holly, Phillip Schofield and resident chef Phil Vickery, but Friday hosts Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford were noticeably absent. Other popular presenters missing included Rylan Clark-Neal, Alison Hammond and Gino D'Acampo. The photo was captioned: "@thismorning family Christmas... my goodness me I adore you gorgeous bunch," but fans were quick to question where the rest of the team were. One wrote: "Where are Eamonn and Ruth?" while another commented: "Eamonn, Ruth, Alison, Gino, Rylan. Not to mention camera crew, runners." A third added: "No Eamonn and Ruth then?"
Fans wondered where Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford were at the This Morning Christmas party
It is most likely that not everyone could make the same date for the Christmas meal. Eamonn turned 60 on Tuesday and was no doubt continuing his celebrations throughout the week, after being whisked away to Vienna on a surprise trip. Rylan, meanwhile, is in demand with various other work commitments, including Strictly: It Takes Two. The This Morning team are incredibly close and often enjoy nights out together, particularly when it comes to celebrating big wins at award shows. Holly and Phil infamously turned up to work still in their evening outfits following their National Television Awards win in 2017, andrecreated the iconic moment the following year.
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Phillip Schofield gave a speech at the This Morning party
This Morning has had several new additions to the presenting team over the past year, most recently Love Island's Maura Higgins, who has her own segment on the show following her success on the popular dating programme. The star shared a video on her Instagram account from the lunch, where Phil gave a speech to the rest of the team. He was heard saying: "I'd just like to say, we've never been a better show, we have never had a better family. We have never worked under a better captain ever." The end of the lunch saw several members of the team crawling under the table at the restaurant, which was also caught on camera.
READ: Holly Willoughby gives a sneak peek inside her family Christmas party
Working on This Morning is a job that all the presenters love, with Holly describing it as her "dream job," while Eamonn and Ruth have previously opened up about their joy of working together. Talking to HELLO!, Ruth said of presenting alongside her husband: "We complement each other. We're like yin and yang. Eamonn pushes me out of my comfort zone and I reign him in when he's being too naughty so somewhere we meet in the middle and it seems to work well."
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