This Morning TV show will air in wake of Schofield admission of having an affair with assistant – TheLiberal.ie – Our News, Your Views

This Morning TV show will air in wake of Schofield admission of having an affair with assistant




Image source: ITV

This Morning will air today as the ITV show remains embroiled in controversy after Phillip Schofield admitted to having an affair with a younger colleague, the broadcaster has confirmed.

The veteran TV presenter, 61, quit the network on Friday and was fired from his talent agency after admitting he had an “unwise, but not illegal” relationship with a young man working on the show, as Mr Schofield was still married to his wife.

Mr Schofield resigned from This Morning last weekend with “immediate effect” while his former co-host Holly Willoughby remains on half-time leave.

Ms Willoughby, who has co-hosted the morning show with Mr Schofield since 2009, said in a statement that his admission that the relationship was “very damaging” followed his previous denials to her.

“It’s taken time to process yesterday’s news. 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,” Ms Willoughby wrote on an Instagram story posted yesterday, reports RTE.

An ITV spokesman said the broadcaster had been presented with “ot provided with, and did not find, any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour” when it investigated the matter in 2020.

Mr Schofield, who also co-hosted Dancing On Ice with Mr Willoughby, said he would no longer present the British Soap Awards, his latest public engagement.

A day after his departure, it was announced that Mr Schofield and Ms Willoughby were among the 50 names on the National Television Awards presenters longlist, along with This Morning co-hosts Ms Hammond, Mr O’Leary and Rylan Clark.

Mr Schofield revealed in a statement published by the Daily Mail on Friday that the relationship began when he was still with his wife Stephanie Lowe, adding that he was “very, very sorry” for having been unfaithful to her.

Mr Schofield also apologized for lying about the relationship.

“The first thing I want to say is: I am deeply sorry for having lied to them (the Daily Mail), and to many others about a relationship that I had with someone working on This Morning. I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning,” he said, reports RTE.

The presenter added: “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,” reports RTE.

Just days before he left This Morning, Mr. Schofield’s brother Timothy, 54, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for sexually abusing a boy.

The TV presenter said after being found guilty in April: “I no longer have a brother,” reports RTE.

Mr. Schofield married Stephanie Lowe in 1993 and together they have two adult daughters, Ruby and Molly.

After coming out with Mr Willoughby in an emotional on-air chat in February 2020, his wife told The Sun she supports his “”brave step” and “always will” love him, reports RTE.

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