Phillip Schofield leaves ITV after admitting affair with younger colleague
The 61-year-old described it as a "consensual on-off relationship" with a young man who was a staff member on This Morning.
Phillip Schofield has left ITV after admitting to having an affair with a younger man while he was married.
The former This Morning presenter, 61, announced on Saturday (20 May) that he had quit the show. He is now leaving ITV entirely, and also exiting his role as presenter of the British Soap Awards.
On Friday (26 May) Schofield provided a statement to the Daily Mail admitting the affair with an ex-colleague.
He described it as a “consensual on-off relationship” with a young man who was a staff member on This Morning.
“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,” he said.
He continued: “That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over.” He also said he had lied to protect his former colleague.
“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.”
Schofield then apologised for lying to ITV, his colleagues, friends, family, agents, the media, and the public. “I am so very, very sorry, as I am for having been unfaithful to my wife,” he said as part of this.
“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,” the statement read.
The presenter said he would reflect on his “bad judgement” and hoped the younger man and his family could move on with their lives.
He also confirmed he had parted from his management company, YMU, after 35 years. YMU confirmed the split in a statement to the Daily Mail.
Schofield had been a regular presenter on This Morning since 2002. He was joined by Holly Willoughby in 2009.
His exit on Saturday followed rumours a rift between the pair had led to their friendship breakdown.
“I understand that ITV has decided the current situation can’t go on and I want to do what I can to protect the show that I love. So I have agreed to step down from This Morning with immediate effect,” Schofield said in a previous statement.
Willoughby wrote in her response: “I want to take this opportunity to thank him for all of his knowledge, his experience and his humour. The sofa won’t feel the same without him.”
Schofield came out as gay in 2020, sharing his truth in a statement on social media.