Now ex-This Morning star Dr Ranj weighs into Phillip Schofield drama
Now Dr Ranj slams ‘toxic’ culture on This Morning and accuses ITV of ‘bullying culture’ as station bosses battle to contain growing scandal sparked by Phillip Schofield’s affair with colleague
- This Morning is set to continue despite rumours that it could be taken off air
- Dr Ranj spoke out on Sunday about ‘bulling culture’ at ITV’s This Morning
- But ITV deny claims and say investigation found ‘no evidence’ of harassment
- READ MORE: Phillip Schofield’s lover was just FIFTEEN when they met
- READ MORE: DAN WOOTTON: I told ITV about cheating Phillip Schofield’s affair
Former This Morning star Dr Ranj has slammed the ‘toxic’ culture at the ITV daytime show in the wake of the ongoing scandal into Phillip Schofield’s ‘unwise’ affair with a younger male colleague.
The TV doctor, who left the show last year, claimed he was ‘managed out’ after taking his concerns to ‘the top’ of ITV, raising even more questions for bosses about whether they knew and when.
Dr Ranj – who is now the resident doctor on the BBC’s Morning Live – said he thought ‘long and hard’ before weighing in on the scandal currently engulfing ITV but decided to speak out ‘in light of recent events’.
But the channel have denied his bombshell accusations amid calls intensify for a independent probe into an ITV investigation by top brass in 2020 into Phillip Schofield’s affair with his secret lover.
As the future of the show hangs in the balance, ITV confirmed that Monday’s instalment will be hosted by Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary who are said to be ‘furious’ after having paid tribute to their former co-star last week.
Dr Ranj said he had taken his concerns to ‘the top’ of ITV but that he felt he had been ‘managed out’
In a lengthy Instagram post, Dr Ranj Singh said he had ‘thought long and hard’ before weighing in on the ongoing scandal
The television medic confirmed that he had taken concerns about the behaviour of editors and senior producers to ITV and had then seen his screentime drop
Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby with Dr Ranj on This Morning in 2019. The TV doctor said he felt he had to speak up
In a lengthy Instagram post, Dr Ranj Singh said: ‘I’ve thought long and hard about posting this. If I’m honest, I really wish I didn’t have to. But I’ve got to clarify some things that have ben reported about me, and in light of recent events, I finally feel like I might be believed…
Read more: ‘Holly Willoughby has questions to answer’: Nadine Dorries calls for probe into complaints to ITV about Phillip Schofield on This Morning after Mail revealed how he met lover when he was 15
‘To the journalists who have offered me money this weekend to share my experience of working at This Morning, thank you but it would go against my principles to “sell my story” – especially about something like this.
‘However, given that ITV have commented on my departure, I feel it’s only fair for me to do so too to avoid any further conjecture.
‘I was on the show for 10 years and I genuinely loved and valued working there. However over time I grew increasingly worried about how things were behind-the-scenes and how people, including myself, were being treated.
‘I didn’t know the truth about what was going on with Philip [sic], but I do know the issues with TM go far beyond him. It takes more than one person to create a culture.’
The television medic confirmed that he had taken concerns about the behaviour of editors and senior producers to ITV and had then seen his screentime drop.
‘So I did what I thought was right and, as ITV confirmed last night, I raised my concerns with Emma Gormley – especially given that my job is to look after people’s wellbeing and I had been heavily involved in diversity, anti-bullying and mental health projects across the channel.
‘I then found myself being used less and less,’ the medic said online. He added that he had felt ‘managed out’ and slammed the culture at the show as ‘toxic’.
‘I even took my concerns directly to the top of ITV: the culture at This Morning has become toxic, no longer aligned with ITV values, and I felt like because I whistle-blew I was managed out.
‘But as history and experience have taught us, things like bullying and discrimination are very hard to prove, particularly in hindsight and when the “people in power” control the narrative. As we’ve seen, no review of investigation is foolproof.
‘Still, I was assured that certain things were going to be addressed and changes made.
‘I haven’t worked on the show since… and I am not the only one who has spoken up or experienced similar.’
‘A lot of questions’ are going to surround This Morning star Holly Willoughby after Phillip Schofield’s affair bombshell
Unimpressed: Alison Hammond, 48, and Dermot O’Leary, 50, are reportedly fuming after paying tribute to Phillip Schofield following his departure from This Morning
The show’s Twitter profile was updated on Saturday to remove a picture with Phillip Schofield in it
Dr Ranj said the ‘whole process’ had affected his mental health but that he was happy to have found his feet again.
He had worked on the show as a resident doctor since 2016 and had even hosted with Vanessa Feltz in July 2018.
He left the programme a year ago, it is understood, after putting in a complaint about an on-set bully.
The former Strictly contestant said: ‘That was two years ago and, frankly, it still hurts. The whole process was pretty heart-breaking and even affected my mental health.
Read more: ‘It’s fair to say they are disappointed’: Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary ‘feel let down and upset’ by Phillip Schofield’s ‘extraordinary’ statement – released AFTER their 30 second tribute
‘But I’m happy to say I’ve found my feet again, know my worth and have found my tribe.
‘So my general message to everyone is: look around you. Is this the place you want to be? Do you feel valued? Are you thriving or just surviving? Do you need to speak up?
‘These are lessons I’ve learned from my time in this industry. I say it all with respect, kindness and a desire to make things better.
‘There are some good people in TV, but we need to be brave and stand up to those who aren’t. Even if it’s scary as hell, we have to do the right thing otherwise nothing will change.
‘I sincerely hope something good comes from all this.’
But the channel said a review had found no evidence of bullying.
An ITV Spokesperson said: ‘We are sorry to read Dr Ranj’s post today.
‘At ITV we are fully committed to providing every opportunity for anyone who works with us to raise any concern or comments they may have.
‘Following a complaint made by Dr Ranj, we appointed an external and independent advisor to carry out a review. This external review found no evidence of bullying or discrimination.’
In the caption to the post, Dr Ranj added that there was ‘so much more’ he could say but that he hoped he would ‘finally be taken seriously and something good comes from all this’.
He’s not the only This Morning presenter who is caught in the aftermath of Friday’s bombshell confession that Schofield had an ‘unwise but not illegal’ relationship with a younger male coworker.
Co-host Holly Willoughby, who is officially due to be back on the show on Monday June 5 after a two-week family holiday, could extend her time off in a desperate attempt to avoid being dragged further into controversy, PR guru Mark Borkowski has said.
The team behind ITV’s golden girl, including her advisers, agents and lawyers, will now need to ‘come up with the goods’ to guarantee her future, he claimed.
Mr Borkowski told MailOnline: ‘For Holly it’s a case of staying out of the headlines, taking time out. Disappearing from public view.
‘Clearly she won’t do TV at the moment, she might possibly extend that. She’s the girl next door. She has huge commercial deals, clearly a talent, clearly liked.’
Monday’s edition of This Morning will be hosted by Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond, ITV have confirmed
Following his last show on May 18, Hammond and O’Leary paid a 30-second tribute to Phil when they hosted the programme the following day, after his 21 years on the show
He added that Willoughby now must demonstrate she can be trusted by viewers – as many are questioning who at the channel knew about Schofield’s relationship with his colleague.
On the reputation of ITV’s bubbly breakfast presenter, he said: ‘Just because you’re a celebrity you are held to a higher degree of scrutiny [but] every human fails, there is drama in everyone’s lives.
‘My view is that we are yet to know and it’s for her to rebuild trust of her audience and get her representatives to work extremely hard in regaining some of the ground that might have been lost,’ Mr Borkowski said.
Sources close to Willoughby said it had been a ‘traumatic’ revelation for the This Morning host and a ‘time of real sadness’ as Schofield ‘was her very close friend’ but that she has ‘absolutely no plans to leave’ the show.
ITV confirmed that they had investigated rumours of the relationship, which first began to circulate in 2020, but that Schofield and the young man had ‘repeatedly denied’ the affair. But calls for a probe into ITV’s investigation of the relationship are still continuing to grow.
Read more: This Morning hosts ‘threaten to quit’ after Phillip Schofield’s affair with younger male ITV colleague was revealed
The broadcaster has also dismissed claims that the show is to be axed, saying: ‘as we said on the record yesterday, This Morning is not under review and there’s no plans for the show to be axed. This Morning will return as normal tomorrow.’
Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary – who were reportedly ‘fuming’ after finding out about Schofield’s lies – filled in last week and will be on air as presenters for Monday’s show.
Tomorrow’s show is the first since the revelations emerged on Friday evening.
Following his last show on May 18, the pair paid a 30-second tribute to Phil when they hosted the programme the following day, after his 21 years on the show.
The pair are now said to be upset they were drawn into the situation with details of Phillip’s affair having come to light.
A source told MailOnline: ‘Obviously lots of people have been upset on and off camera following Phillip’s extraordinary statement on Friday. It’s fair to say they feel disappointed.’
A source told the Mirror: ‘Both are furious. The telling thing in all of this is the silence where Phil’s colleagues could have stepped in to back him. No one wants to be damaged by association.
‘There is a real shock behind the scenes that such a successful show has been so badly hit by the actions of one presenter.
‘The thinking last week was that when it returned after the summer, Phil would not be replaced by one person – but that there’d be a rolling rota on the sofa, much like there is on Good Morning Britain. But now those conversations seem irrelevant.’
And yesterday broadcaster Dan Wooton revealed that he told ITV about Phillip Schofield’s affair with his young colleague in 2019 and urged them to investigate but they dismissed it as ‘malicious gossip’.
In his exclusive Mail article Wooton also revealed ITV staff submitted complaints about Schofield’s behaviour.
He said: ‘I was executive editor of The Sun at that point and had spoken to eight household name ITV stars who were raising concerns about Phillip’s “toxic” behaviour, specifically the inappropriate relationship with the man.’
Earlier today Nadine Dorries piled pressure on Willoughby and called for a probe into complaints made to ITV.
The former culture secretary also accused Schofield of ‘bullying’ co-workers as well as abusing ‘authority, power and trust’ after he confessed to having an affair with the younger colleague and covering it up with lies.
The 61-year-old presenter quit ITV on Friday after admitting to the Mail that he lied about an ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair with a much younger man. He also apologised to his wife of almost 30 years Stephanie Lowe who stood by him after he came out as gay in 2020.
Ms Dorries said Schofield’s co-host of 13 years Willoughby ‘has questions to answer’.
Sources close to Willoughby said it had been a ‘traumatic’ revelation for the This Morning host and a ‘time of real sadness’
The pair both commented on Schofield’s departure from the show, with Holly Willoughby saying: ‘The sofa won’t be the same without him’
Phillip Schofield with fellow younger colleague who became his lover leaving The Ivy Club, London
The 61-year-old presenter quit ITV on Friday after admitting to the Daily Mail that he lied about an ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair with a much younger man. His co-host of 13 years Holly said it was ‘hurtful’ to find out she had been lied to
Kevin Lygo, director of television at ITV, today denied that mistakes were made during the network’s investigation. He simply responded ‘No’ when asked whether mistakes had been made as he was confronted by Sky News over which bosses knew what at ITV.
As Schofield’s 38-year career lays in ruins, Ms Dorries is the latest to speak out against the TV presenter.
Calling for an investigation into the complaints made to ITV, she told BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg today: ‘The fact that Phillip Schofield has made a rather grovelling apology to the Daily Mail in the form of an email there seems to be this understanding that that’s it now and everything will move on. It’s not the case I’m afraid.
READ MORE: Holly damns Phil: Willoughby says she asked co-star Schofield ‘directly’ if ‘it was true’ he was having affair with This Morning ITV staffer ‘and was told it was not’ as she adds: ‘It’s been very hurtful to now find out that this was a lie’
‘What it actually does is opens up more questions as to what happened. We know that there were complaints lodged with ITV over a long period of time. What happened to those complaints? I think the editor of the programme Martin Frizell has some questions to answer himself.
‘And I’m afraid so does Holly Willoughby. How did that young boy, so young, get a job at ITV? What were the processes involved? What was the safeguarding in place for someone so young at that age? What contact was first made? Who contacted who?’
When asked whether presenters such as Schofield have too much power, Ms Dorries, who has been presenting herself recently, added: ‘There are men, men particularly, who have positions of authority or trust and power, kind of think they are above the law and above those standards that the rest of us are held by and held to.
‘I think there’s absolutely an element of that which takes place.’
Describing her own experience of being on the This Morning sofa, she said: ‘[It’s] never easy, as you known Laura, being interviewed as a politician by a presenter or a journalist, it’s never an easy experience.
‘But I just found him to be quite bullying in his attitude towards the co-host who was standing in for Holly Willoughby. That made me feel more uncomfortable than answering the questions. When the camera was on me and I was talking, he started aggressively jabbing at the scripts with his hands, the pages were rattling. The co-presenter looked terrified.’
Her hard-hitting comments come as questions continue to mount over the future of ITV bosses, including CEO Carolyn McCall, and the popular daytime TV show, prompting the network to insist today that This Morning will not be axed.
Ms Dorries on her own experience of being on the This Morning sofa (pictured March 2022): ‘When the camera was on me and I was talking, he [Schofield] started aggressively jabbing at the scripts with his hands, the pages were rattling. The co-presenter looked terrified.’
ITV bosses, including CEO Carolyn McCall (pictured) are facing questions about the affair that the network investigated in 2020
ITV has rushed to extinguish rumours circulating over the future of This Morning
Extinguishing speculation with a direct 30-word statement, an ITV spokesman said today: ‘As we said on the record yesterday, This Morning is not under review and there’s no plans for the show to be axed.
‘This Morning will return as normal tomorrow.’
It comes after Holly told of her devastation when she discovered he had lied to her about the relationship.
She revealed: ‘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.’
Schofield met his future lover at a theatre school in North West England when he was in his late 40s.
Some years later the younger man became a production assistant on This Morning when Schofield was in his early 50s and their ill-advised friendship – which grew into a relationship – started.
ITV confirmed that they had investigated rumours of the relationship, which first begun to circulate in 2020, but that Schofield and the young man had ‘repeatedly denied’ the affair
The scandal over the affair follows a turbulent few months for Schofield, who for decades was ITV’s king of daytime television.
But eight days ago he sensationally quit This Morning after 21 years after falling out with Ms Willoughby, 42. His departure came just a day after his younger brother Timothy was jailed for 12 years for 11 convictions of sexual offences involving a child.
Schofield was forced to confirm allegations of an affair were true because his former lover – who had also worked on This Morning – had unexpectedly confessed all to his lawyers.
The presenter had hired top law firm Mishcon de Reya to represent the young man, now in his mid 20s, presumably believing that he would keep quiet.
But his former lover told lawyers that although he feared exposure, he was fed up lying about the relationship.
Although ITV investigated Schofield’s affair in 2020, a senior lawyer has said there should be a ‘probe’ into the affair over a possible ‘abuse of power’.
Schofield apologised to his wife Stephanie Lowe (pictured) who stood by him after he came out as gay in 2020
Phillip Schofield is held by Holly Willoughby as he comes out as gay on This Morning in 2020
Richard Scorer, of Slater and Gordon, said that while all of the details of the relationship were not yet known, ‘any situation where a young person may have been subjected to a potential imbalance of abuse of power needs to be investigated fully and independently’.
READ MORE: He declared his love for Phil at a glitzy awards ceremony… then got shunted to another show: KATIE HIND reveals how Schofield met starstruck teen – who would years later become his lover – on a visit to a theatre school before landing him a job at ITV
The abuse specialist added that the long-standing rumours about the affair – and the allegations that others in ITV were aware of the relationship – meant it was ‘imperative that there is a full and transparent investigation’.
The calls for a probe come as ITV’s chief is said to believe that This Morning’s reputation is ‘tarnished beyond repair’ – leaving presenters and crew scrambling for their jobs.
PR expert Mark Borkowski told MailOnline that the future of ITV bosses, including McCall, will likely be safe because Schofield admitted to deceiving everyone.
As for Schofield’s future in TV, he said: ‘Phillip Schofield has no future, its over for him for the level he has lied to everyone and he has admitted to that.
‘A lot depends on whether the truth of this boy comes out. He holds all the knowledge about whether Phil was telling the truth or whether he had lied.
‘If his story differs, it’s going to be very difficult for everybody.’
He added that ITV now has to move on and focus on the programme: ‘Holly Willoughby and all her advisers and publicists will need to work extremely hard and work on great television to bring that back,’ he said.
‘ITV and all these people need to get their PR right. It’s been DIY PR. It’s been the equivalent in PR terms of looking for a gas leak with a matchstick.
‘Make no mistake, the pressure is on the programme and Holly to deliver. The question is whether viewers will desert the programme.’
Willoughby said on Instagram that it had ‘taken time to process’ the bombshell revelations about her ex co-host
Holly is managed by her own agency, Roxy Management, which she set up in 2020 after quitting the talent agency YMU Group, which she had shared with Schofield
Her split with the agency, where Schofield is a stakeholder according to The Sun, reportedly caused a rift between the pair.
The pair have shared a strained relationship for months, according to reports, with a string of controversies including Queuegate and Schofield’s brother, Timothy, being convicted of child sex offences.
Now the explosive new revelations about Schofield’s affair with the much younger man, which he described as ‘unwise but not illegal’, threaten to end their relationship for good.
Phillip received just a 30-second tribute at the start of This Morning on Friday 19 May as Alison and Dermot stepped in after he was axed after 21 years.
The pair began the show by briefly addressing his exit, but there was no montage, just a single photo of Phil on screen and around half a minute of warm words.
Opening the broadcast, Alison said: ‘We can’t start today’s show without paying tribute to the man who spent the last two decades sitting on the This Morning sofa. Phillip Schofield.’
Dermot added: ‘So as a show, everyone on and off screen at ITV and This Morning on say a huge thank you to Phil for what he’s done to make the show such a success over the last 21 years.’
Alison continued: ‘Quite simply, we all know he’s one of the best live television broadcasters this country has ever had, and we and all the team wish him all the best for the future.’
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