From bitter feuds, backstage fights, and even divorce: A look back at the double acts whose relationships turned sour

Since pop culture began it has been is filled with iconic duos and memorable double acts. 

However,  sadly they don’t all stand the test of time. 

Bob Mortimer recently opened up about he and comedy partner Jim Moir, best known by his stage name Vic Reeves, have drifted apart in their later years. 

Yet while their relationship seemingly split amicable, not all duos have the same experience, with others suffering bitter feuds, backstage fights, and even divorce. 

From the former king and queen of daytime TV Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, to David Walliams and Matt Lucas and even the Gallagher brothers, MailOnline take a look at the double acts whose relationships turned sour. 

Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield 

Despite once being one of TV’s most famous double acts Holly and Phillip’s relationship ended for good in 2023 after Phillip resigned from This Morning. 

The pair used to be known for their close brother-sister like relationship as they famously nursed their hangovers together live on air and co-hosted both the daytime show and Dancing On Ice together. 

Holly also acted as a pillar of support for the presenter after he came out as gay live on air back in 2020. 

However the pair’s relationship became strained in 2023 after they came under fire when they were accused of skipping the queue to see the Queen lying-in-state in September 2022.

Relations deteriorated further in April 2023 when Phillip took time away from the sofa as his paedophile brother went on trial – something he failed to warn his co-star was coming. 

Timothy Schofield, a police IT worker, was convicted of 11 charges of child sex offences.

Sources close to Holly claim she was ‘deeply upset’ that she found out what was happening from a third party.

Holly was later left blindsided after Phillip released an extraordinary statement about the rumoured feud between the pair as he insisted there has been no fallout with his co-host of 14 years.

He told The Sun: ‘We’re the best of friends — as always, she is an incredible support on screen, behind the scenes and on the phone. Holly has always been there for me, through thick and thin. And I’ve been there for her.’ 

Phillip resigned from This Morning in May 2023 after it admitting to having had an affair with a younger male member of staff, which he initially lied about.

She took to Instagram at the time saying Phillip’s admission about his relationship with a younger ITV colleague was ‘very hurtful’.

She said: ‘When reports of this relationship first surfaced, I asked Phil directly if this was true and was told it was not. It’s been very hurtful to now find out that this was a lie.’

The pair haven’t rekindled their friendship since the fallout, after one source told MailOnline back in October: ‘Phil is really sad still. They are not friends and it’s very, very unlikely they ever will be ever again.

‘Holly went out there publicly and said that Phil had lied to her about his affair with the young runner and then privately was texting him.

‘She messaged him because she was really upset and concerned at people criticising him, at the same time she was going back on television.

‘It hasn’t been the same for her since. She vowed to guide the show through the choppy waters but in the end it sadly turned out to be too much.’

Bob Mortimer and Vic Reeves 

Bob Mortimer and his former co-star Jim Moir, known for his alter-ego Vic Reeves, shot to fame in the early 90s with their surreal comedy and soon became household names.

But after their stint on Vic and Bob’s Big Night Out in 2019, the pair, both 65 and known for their time on Shooting Stars, soon drifted apart as they got older. 

However Bob recently admitted he wishes he had ‘done more’ with Jim as he revealed the iconic comedy duo have ‘drifted apart’ in recent years.

Speaking to Richard Herring on his RHLSTP podcast, he confessed that he wished he did more with his former co-star.

‘I got on great with Jim, but no, we’re both doing our own little things at the moment’, he said.

‘We had a lovely time, but you get older.

‘I wish I’d done more with Jim, you know, when we were younger, because now, we have drifted apart.

‘As I get older, I think of all the lovely people I’ve known and don’t see them anymore – it just seems to happen.’

Jim also revealed the pair weren’t as close friends any more after he revealed they rarely speak. 

Jim told The Times in 2023: ‘We never really speak much. Bob and I have never been ones for talking on the phone.

He added: ‘We’ll see him now and then and have a chat about things.’

Phillip Schofield and Fern Britton 

Fern Britton famously fell out with Phillip after the pair worked alongside each other on This Morning from 1993 until her eventual departure in 2009. 

The presenter walked out on her on screen partnership with Phillip halfway through a lucrative contract after a reported backstage feud with her co-host. 

Fern was said to have felt like she was ‘undervalued by ITV’ and ‘living in Schofield’s shadow’ before she was ultimately replaced by Holly Willoughby.

Asked whether it was her choice to leave, she told MailOnline: ‘Ultimately, yes. I loved it and I would probably still be there if… Phillip and I were not getting on very well at that stage.’

It was also reported she was being paid £250,000 a year less than her male co-host, who was believed to be earning three times her salary when they were fronting game show Mr & Mrs together from 2008 to 2010.

In 2023 Fern confirmed she was no longer in touch with Phillip, but insisted she had fond memories of her time on This Morning.

She said: ‘We were involved in the show and mates at the time, but we don’t really [speak anymore].’

Liam and Noel Gallagher 

Perhaps the most famous feud in modern day music, brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher have been in a toxic feud since Oasis split back in 2009. 

The musicians devastated fans when they announced they were going their separate ways after a backstage bust up at their final concert in Paris – Rock En Seine, and 15 years later they have never reunited. 

There had been early tensions between the brothers ever since they rose to huge fame in the 1990s.

During their first American tour in 1994 Liam would wind up Noel by frequently changed the lyrics of Noel’s songs.

In addition, during a showcase gig at the Whiskey A Go Go in Los Angeles Liam reportedly started to fling insults at the band, and chucked a tambourine at his brother.

In 1995 During the recording of the second Oasis album (What’s The Story) Morning Glory in Wales, Liam brought a group of people back to the studio while Noel was trying to work.

Noel responded to this disruption by reportedly hitting his brother over the head with a cricket bat.

During the same period, the brothers were interviewed by music mag NME when they infamously repeatedly told each other to ‘f**k off’ in a memorable spat.

The next bust-up came in 1996 as Oasis’ MTV Unplugged performance arrived and Liam pulled out at the last minute.

In 2000 a tour in Spain saw a drunken altercation occur between the pair as Noel punched his brother and split his lip open after Liam questioned the paternity of Noel’s child with Meg Matthews, Anais.

During their final bust up in 2009, an argument between the pair broke out, with Liam reportedly wielding Noel’s guitar around ‘like an axe’.

It was the last straw for the duo and the show was cancelled, along with the rest of the tour as Noel quit the band for good. 

Over the years fans have begged for a reunion, but to this day the pair have never performed together again.  

Last March Noel called on his brother and former bandmate Liam to end their bickering and to phone him about an Oasis reunion.

Speaking on a French radio show, he said: ‘He should get his people to call my people. They know who they are, they know where we are. Stop talking on the f***ing internet and let’s see what you’ve got to say.’

Noel was asked whether a phone call would end the feud with his brother, he replied: ‘You would think, right? He’s got my number, he’s got my manager’s number, call us.’

Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford

They were one of Britain’s best known TV power couples after they presented This Morning together for 15 years from 2006 until 2021. 

However, after 27 years together, 14 of which were spent in wedlock, the couple announced last month that they are headed for divorce after work commitments ‘took their marriage in different directions’.

The couple tied the knot in 2010 after dating for 13 years – and said that despite their separation, they are ‘determined to stay friends’.

They are parents to son Jack, 22, while Eamonn also has sons Declan, 35, Niall, 31, and daughter Rebecca, 33, from his previous marriage. 

Insiders have claimed that the pair have been living separate lives for two years, with their relationship detoriating after they left This Morning in 2021.

Eamonn has had a tough two years, losing the ITV show, as well as battling health conditions and grieving the death of his mother. The presenter is said to have been keen to move home to Belfast, but Ruth was adamant they stay put at their Surrey home.

A source told The Sun on Sunday night: ‘Eamonn and Ruth’s relationship changed when they left This Morning. They started moving in different directions in their careers and their priorities started to change.’

‘Eamonn was desperate to return to Belfast, which he thinks of as home, but Ruth would never move. It became a bone of contention.

‘As her ITV career continued, Eamonn went down another path and they became ships in the night. For the past two years they had led separate lives, professionally and personally.’

Meanwhile in an interview with TalkTV during the Covid-19 lockdown, Eamonn explained that he and Ruth were struggling with not having their on space.

He said: ‘Although we live together, we’re not really together, we don’t watch the same TV, Ruth likes her own space, when we do This Morning it’s a rare time we actually interrelate.’

Ruth added: ‘That’s why we’ve been together 24 years, because we aren’t actually together a lot.’

Kim Woodburn and Aggie MacKenzie 

Kim Woodburn and Aggie MacKenzie fronted their show How Clean Is Your House together from 2003 until 2009 as they travelled around the country to clean filthy homes. 

However Aggie revealed in 2023 that she never got on with her Channel 4 co-host and the show finished because their relationship had become too fractured and it was too hard for them to continue filming together.

Speaking on GB News to Nana Akua, Aggie said: ‘I think we’re chalk and cheese, and so different from each other, but I think that was one of the reasons why it worked.

‘Because of the friction there was between us, it created this energy and so we knew how to be in front of the camera. I mean, most of it was ad lib. We had an idea of the storyline, but we just kind of made it up as we went along.

Aggie continued: ‘Kim is not the most straightforward person. I’m somebody who just likes to get on and Kim had a very difficult beginning, a difficult childhood and I think in her home, growing up, there was lots of conflict, many rows and she spent a lot of her childhood in a children’s home.

‘And I think for her, it’s kind of normal to have conflict and I think that if things are calm and easy, I think she found that quite difficult. That’s not me, I like it easy peasy. There were lots of highs, and a few lows.’

The star revealed that both presenters were also ready to do something different and move on from the show.

Aggie said: ‘We did it for a while and it became really I mean, it was very stressful. We did it for six years, and that’s a long time.’

David Walliams and Matt Lucas 

David Walliams and Matt Lucas endured a near-decade-long feud that lasted from 2011 until at least 2018.

David and Matt first met in The National Youth Theatre, and broke onto the comedy scene with the sketch series Little Britain in 2003. 

The series created iconic characters such as Andy and Lou (with the catchphrase ‘I don’t like it’), Vicky Pollard (‘Yeah but no yeah but no but’) and Carol Beer (‘Computer says no’).

After three series the show concluded in 2005, but sparked a US spin-off three years later and numerous one-off specials for Comic and Sport Relief.

However around this time tensions between the pair began to grow and the pair suffered explosive backstage fights.

In his autobiography Little Me: The A-Z Of Matt Lucas, the actor detailed how they had a spectacular fight backstage during the Little Britain Live tour in 2005. 

The two men demanded separate dressing rooms but found they had to prepare together before every show, just to cope with all the technical issues each night.

Disputes then started over trivial matters, such as David’s apparent insistence that jumbo packs of Maltesers should be provided by the promoter at every venue.

Taking a swipe at David in his book he wrote: ‘Walliams has now sold so many children’s books he can probably buy his own private jet, all decked out in pink, with a river inside it for him to swim up’ — as he referenced the fame David acquired when he swam the Channel and the length of the Thames.

However the duo confirmed they have well and truly reconciled after they reunited for the Britain’s Got Talent final in 2020.

Matt appeared on the show as a performer in a dazzling musical extravaganza that showcased the best of British musical theatre talent. 

Gregg Wallace and John Torode 

MasterChef hosts Gregg Wallace and John Torode have been fronting the BBC One cooking show for almost 20 years. 

The television presenters, who host MasterChef together, keep viewers of the BBC One show entertained with their amusing banter and appear to have a close bond on screen. 

Yet despite their camaraderie on the TV, the pair have admitted they are not actually best of pals in real life.   

They insist they do not regularly mix outside of work, something they claim leaves their fans astounded.

Former greengrocer Gregg told the Radio Times last year: ‘As far as I know, nobody’s written a bestselling pamphlet on how to be a successful TV couple, which is what we are.

‘People are amazed we can be close and not be round at each other’s houses. We’ve found a way for it to work for us.’

Meanwhile John has said that he and Gregg ‘have their moments’ and that ‘it’s the 6am phone calls’ he gets from him which prove to be a bone of contention.

In a candid new interview with The Times, back in 2022, John said: ‘We know each other so well. But that’s not to say we don’t have our moments. With Gregg my issue is the 6am phone calls.

‘Last time it happened I wasn’t very happy and I said, “Gregg, mate, it’s 6am.” And he said, “But you’re on my list!” That’s the thing with Gregg, he gets up very early and his whole life is diarised and run on lists.’

Next time the pair met up Gregg admitted that he was disgruntled that John wasn’t ‘very nice to me’ during their previous phone call.’

However, the pair were able to swiftly move on from their minor tiff, with John crediting the truce to the pair’s ability to be completely ‘honest ‘ with each other and knowing when to accept any flaws with each other.

He explained: ‘We talked it out. We are honest with each other. In the end, you have to learn to accept each other’s foibles. Gregg is incredibly organised. You have to allow the relationship to grow.’

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