Susanna Reid appeared to come to the defence of Holly Willougby and Phillip Schofield in their “queue jumping” row on ITV’s Good Morning Britain.

The morning host was discussing the Queen with guest Mel B, who received a letter from the Queen after receiving an MBE for her work with Women’s Aid.

The former Spice Girl spoke of her respect Susanna, who queued for more than seven hours to see the Queen lying in state, before dropping a reference to the furore around the This Morning presenters.

Speaking on Tuesday’s GMB, Mel B said: “Before I forget Susanna, you queued for seven hours.

“My gosh, I have so much respect for you. I did anyway but even more so now. What was that like?”

Susanna likened the queue to a “pilgrimage” as Mel B interjected: “No queue jumping for you!”

In response the GMB presenter appeared to defend the This Morning hosts as she said: “Well, some people had to work, of course.

“I was there with my mum who wanted to be there and her friend and it was lovely.”

Holly and Phil break silence on queue jump row

During the segment looking back over the period of national mourning on Tuesday, Holly addressed the situation.

She said: "Like hundreds of accredited journalists we were given permission to access the hall.

"The rules were that we would be quickly escorted through an entrance and not file passed the coffin.

"None of the broadcasters and journalists took anyone's places in the queue.

"We of course respected their views. Please know that we would never jump a queue."

ITV responds to This Morning queue jump row

The This Morning presenters have received criticism from some on social media after they appeared inside Westminster Hall on Friday without having taken part in the public queue.

ITV bosses have said in a statement on Instagram that their hosting duo had attended to film a segment due to air during Tuesday’s show.

They said: “Hello everyone, we would like to clarify something. We asked Phillip and Holly to be part of a film for this Tuesday’s programme.

“They did not jump the queue, have VIP access or file past the Queen lying in state – but instead were there in a professional capacity as part of the world’s media to report on the event.”