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UK presenter quits ITV after affair

Former host of UK's This Morning Phillip Schofield issues a statement confirming he had a consensual affair with a younger man who worked at the broadcaster.

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UK TV presenter host Phillip Schofield has quit ITV after confirming he had an affair with a younger man who worked at the broadcaster.

Schofield, who came out as gay in 2020, recently quit This Morning amid rumours of a rift with co-host Holly Willoughby. But media has speculated about further reasons behind the move.

In a statement issued, he confirmed he had a consensual affair, whilst still married to his wife, which he describes as “unwise, but not illegal”.

It isn’t clear when the relationship took place.

“I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague,” he said.

“Contrary to speculation, whilst I met the man when he was a teenager and was asked to help him to get into television, it was only after he started to work on the show that it became more than just a friendship.

“That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over. When I chose to come out I did so entirely for my own wellbeing. Nobody ‘forced’ me out.

“Neither I nor anyone else, to my knowledge, has ever issued an injunction, super or otherwise, about my relationship with this colleague, he was never moved on or sacked by or because of me.

“In an effort to protect my ex-colleague I haven’t been truthful about the relationship.

“But my recent, unrelated, departure from This Morning fuelled speculation and raised questions which have been impacting him, so for his sake it is important for me to be honest now.

“I am painfully conscious that I have lied to my employers at ITV, to my colleagues and friends, to my agents, to the media and therefore the public and most importantly of all to my family.

“I am so very, very sorry, as I am for having been unfaithful to my wife.

“I have therefore decided to step down from the British Soap Awards, my last public commitment, and am resigning from ITV with immediate effect expressing my immense gratitude to them for all the amazing opportunities that they have given me.

“I will reflect on my very bad judgement in both participating in the relationship and then lying about it.

“To protect his privacy, I am not naming this individual and my deepest wish is that both he and his family can now move on with their lives free from further intrusion, and that this statement will enable them to do so.

“I ask the media now to respect their privacy. They have done nothing wrong, and I ask that their privacy should be respected.”

ITV said in a statement, “Further to our statement last night (Friday 26 May), ITV can confirm that when rumours of a relationship between Phillip Schofield and an employee of ITV first began to circulate in early 2020 ITV investigated.

“Both parties were questioned and both categorically and repeatedly denied the rumours as did Phillip’s then agency YMU.

“In addition, ITV spoke to a number of people who worked on ∫and were not provided with, and did not find, any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour.

“Phillip’s statement yesterday reveals that he lied to people at ITV, from senior management to fellow presenters, to YMU, to the media and to others over this relationship.”

Schofield has also been been dropped by his agent YMU, which said in a statement: “Honesty and integrity are core values for YMU’s whole business, defining everything we do.

“Talent management is a relationship based entirely on trust.

“This week, we have learned important new information about our client Phillip Schofield.”

Schofield said: “It is with the most profound regret that after 35 years of being faultlessly managed by YMU I have agreed to step down from their representation with immediate effect.”

The Sun reported

Updated.

10 Responses

  2. The pitfalls of being on tv and being a public figure….constant scrutiny, your life is under the microscope, condemnation, having to divulge personal details for the world to see…..often total disregard from the public for privacy….having to publicly ask to respect that privacy…..the toll on the person’s family and friends….understandably people want to step away from being under the public gaze when it implodes….regardless public figures like all people have a life to live too and it’s a sad thing when this happens.

  3. Am I missing something? If he had a consensual, legal relationship, I don’t know why this has imploded his career? The recently coronated King had an affair and people have dealt with that OK. Plus, I think some consideration has to be given to the fact that he was a closeted older gay male in a highly public position – mustn’t have been easy.

    1. It the power dynamic that’s been the issue. Him as the ‘star’ presenter having a relationship of sorts with someone keen to advance their career. Companies take a very dim view of such things in current climate.

      1. In sum instances the “current climate” needs to change….we are in the 21st century but instead of progressing we appear to be regressing with our inability to have a responsible open mind.

    2. The issue here was that he lied to the company he worked for and his work colleague about the affair that what it comes down to. It isnt about the actually affair itself

        1. Agree…..there does seem to be a misconception that the public need to know all the details and it’s not just Philip either who suffer the humiliation.

  4. As a child in the UK in the 1980s, I have fond memories of watching Phillip and Gordon the Gopher first after school in the ‘broom cupboard’ and then on Saturday morning’s on Going Live. Given how much his life and career have imploded this last few weeks, regardless of what’s gone on I hope Phillip has people around him to look after him. That said, I think that when you feel the need to clarify in a statement that a relatinship was ‘unwise but not illegal’ any hope of a come back from this is lost.

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