DAN WOOTTON: Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby have taken us for fools

It’s the verbal gymnastics we expect from scandal-ridden politicians.

As Matt Hancock explained he did not break the draconian social distancing rules he imposed on all of us despite kissing and groping a woman who was not his wife at his workplace as Covid restrictions remained in place.

Or Bill Clinton, who insists he had no “sexual relations” with “that woman” Monica Lewinsky — and claims that although he tried smoking pot, he never inhaled.

The declaration by the scheming Phillip Schofield and his hapless accomplice Holly Willoughby that skipping a queue of tens of thousands of ordinary Britons waiting to pay their respects to the in-state Queen was not really skipping a queue is seen as one of them all go into eternity – big PR disasters.

Thanks to the live stream from Westminster Hall, we saw the presenters of This Morning being led past the coffin, despite Holly wearing a black mask, perhaps because she was embarrassed about what exactly they were doing.

And as a result of social media footage filmed of some of the honest people who lined up in the 13-hour line around the Thames, we know they were guided past the public to a special entrance.

This is the kind of VIP treatment Phillip and Holly expect.

At ITV Daytime, where I worked for 10 years, they are untouchable; is treated as the king and queen of the network, with every whim met Mariah Carey-style by a massive team of ever-accommodating minions.

When offered the opportunity to view the Queen’s coffin, it never occurred to them that they should probably line up with the public, as their colleague Susanna Reid or the far more famous David Beckham had decided.

In fact, they seemed to convince themselves that their coffin excursion was some kind of selfless exercise, conducted on a Friday (their holy day off) so they could be the eyes and ears of the British public.

Speaking on a damage control program yesterday, in a voiceover dripping with false sincerity, Holly said: “It was for the sole purpose of covering the event to millions of people in the UK who were unable to visit Westminster in person. The rules were that we would be quickly escorted around the edges to a platform in the back. In contrast, those paying homage walked alongside the coffin on a carpeted area and were given time to pause. None of the local broadcasters and journalists took anyone’s place in line and no one pushed past the Queen. Of course we observed these rules. However, we recognize that it may have looked different and therefore fully understand the reaction. Please note that we would never line up.’

uh, what?

Holly, Phillip and This Morning think we’re stupid for saying that.

We KNOW you skipped the line. There is no doubt about it – it is a fact; The videos show it happening.

It’s no wonder Queuegate destroys Phillip and Holly’s remaining credibility by treating This Morning viewers in such a derisive manner.

The question isn’t whether the star presenters jumped the line, but whether it was acceptable to do so as “journalists” covering the historic event.

While we kindly accept that Phil and Holly are suddenly field reporters and This Morning is a news show, much of their explanation still doesn’t make sense.

Most curious is the fact that they showed up in Westminster with no cameramen or technical crew. That’s unheard of for a star host on a show like This Morning with an unlimited budget.

Obviously no equipment could be taken into Westminster Hall itself, but if they were covering the event they would have had cameras to film it before entering and after leaving, and presumably to interview members of the public about their experiences inside.

But all that ended up being broadcast was a very short clip, apparently filmed on an iPhone, in which Holly nods enthusiastically in agreement as Phillip proclaims: “This has to be probably one of, if not the, most profound moments of my life .’

Even stranger is the fact that they didn’t have a show to air on Saturday, Sunday or Monday, so they knew the earliest they could talk about their experience at Westminster Hall was Tuesday, by which time the Queen had already been buried.

I think this has become a scandal because of the transparency and trustworthiness.

If Holly and Phil had admitted to skipping the line and using their media privilege, as many other journalists and broadcasters have done, to speak about the experience of seeing the Queen’s coffin on their show, then we would have at least respected their honesty and moved on.

But it’s the holier-than-thou answer that suggests we’ve all completely missed the point that made things a lot worse.

To be honest, I have a feeling Phillip and Holly’s cult might be coming to an end.

In fairness, she’s a lovely woman who has chosen to be dragged down in so many ways by her co-host out of loyalty when she would be better off forging her own path and focusing on her wildly successful primetime -Focus projects and lifestyle ventures.

Viewers got through Phillip after a string of scandals that seemed to shed light on his notoriously frosty relationships with fellow presenters.

These include the original Fern Britton, a good woman who is still hurt by her experiences, the extraordinary Amanda Holden, with whom he inexplicably refused to work and she called him out for it, and my GB News colleague Eamonn Holmes, who helped announce Phillips choreographed TV, came out only to be tossed aside months later.

This morning worked as we felt like we were watching two of our friends, with a family of regulars to relate to.

Now we feel like we’re being talked down by two frosty, multi-millionaire A-list divas who don’t seem all that nice to their peers or fellow hosts.

Unfortunately, Queuegate proved what we’ve long suspected: Phillip and Holly think they’re better than us.