Phillip Schofield unfollows Holly Willoughby on Instagram ahead of NTAs

Phillip Schofield has unfollowed Holly Willoughby on Instagram ahead of the National Television Awards (NTAs) today.

The prestigious award ceremony which is taking place today (5 September) is often branded as 'television's biggest night of the year', with many viewers tuning in to find out the results, which are voted on by the general public.

Eagle-eyed fans, however, have figured out that Schofield has now unfollowed Willoughby on the social media platform after previously co-hosting the ITV's This Morning together for 13 years.

Instagram/@hollywilloughby

The Insta unfollow comes about months after Schofield resigned from the daytime show after admitting into a highly controversial 'unwise but not illegal' relationship with a younger male colleague who also worked on the daytime show.

Willoughby still currently follows her former co-presenter on Instagram following the ordeal.

The pair had been long-listed for the best TV presenter prize at the awards ceremony, alongside fellow This Morning hosts including Hammond, Dermot O'Leary, Rylan Clark and Martin Lewis.

Hammond and Lewis, however, were the only two who made the cut and they will be competing against Ant and Dec as well as The Traitors host Claudia Winkleman and The Chase's Bradley Walsh.

Just yesterday (4 September), This Morning viewers were left cringing over Willoughby's return to the show following her annual summer time-off.

Willoughby's grand return involved dancing, singing and a whole load of ABBA as she got her groove on to 'Dancing Queen' with Alison Hammond for the big reunion, saying it was 'such a good way to start the show'.

It's clear, however, that the pair's upbeat festivities weren't totally embraced by viewers at home, as many have since taken to social media to share their gripes with it.

One Twitter user hit out: "They couldn't have possibly opened the show worse than this."

"This is it, we’ve reached peak cringe," declared a second.

Karwai Tang/WireImage

A third claimed: "I've had surgeries more enjoyable than this."

Ouch.

A fourth viewer added: "It's too early for this cringefest!"

"Bit of a false 'Look at us and what good friends we are, giggle giggle!' Actually it's a bit cringe," echoed a fifth.

"What the actual f**k," penned a final Twitter user.

Despite the criticism, however, it's clear ITV are happy to continue putting Willoughby front and centre for the channel.

"Holly is the future and ITV wanted to make that clear. It's a sure sign that she is at the helm and the other presenters will join her," a source told The Mail on Sunday (3 September).

"It's a brand new start for This Morning, the scandal could have destroyed it but it has managed to keep going. There is a lot of excitement."

Amid the constant rotation of presenters joining the programme to now help Willoughby with her presenting duties, viewers have been treated to the likes of O'Leary, Josie Gibson and, fan-favourite, Craig Doyle.