EIGHT ITV stars complained about Phillip Schofield’s ‘toxic’ behaviour and relationship with much younger lover | The Sun
EIGHT ITV stars complained about Phillip Schofield's "toxic" behaviour and his relationship with a much younger lover.
The former TV star, 61, has seen his career skydive in just a few weeks after he was forced out of This Morning before quitting ITV altogether.
Schofield exited the sofa after his brother Tim was outed as a peado.
Just six days later, he made a bombshell revelation about an affair he had with a teen colleague while he was married.
After Schofield admitted the "consensual on-off relationship", which he "lied" about for years, Holly Willoughby, 42, and ITV were quick to release statements saying they had been deceived.
Dan Wootton, former showbiz presenter on ITV's Lorraine, has now said he had conversations with multiple household names at the television network about Schofield's behaviour.
He claims he parted ways with ITV back in 2019 after the broadcaster's top executives said he would be taken off the air if he was to report on the then-developing Schofield scandal.
Dan said Schofield had already tried to get him "sacked multiple times" by this point amid fears he would he could be exposed.
Schofield's lover worked on This Morning before being moved to Loose Women following their relationship, it is understood.
Writing in the MailOnline, Dan said: "Like almost everyone who worked on ITV Daytime, I knew the colleague pretty well – he had turned from a happy go lucky and ambitious lad, who wanted to become a TV presenter, to someone who was clearly troubled by the pressures of the extraordinary circumstance with which he had unfairly found himself.
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"I spoke to a number of the Loose Women presenters personally who were livid and worried that they were having to deal with the very real fallout of Phillip's mixed up professional and personal life.
"At least one of the stars had made a formal complaint to management.
"Another told me: 'We shouldn't be having to deal with Phillip's messed up situation. We love [the young worker] but he's very troubled now. What if he can't cope?'
"The Loose Women ructions coincided with the first sign of tension between Phillip and Holly Willoughby, who had fallen out at the time but went on to patch up their working relationship.
"Which brings me to the critical call with ITV's Group Corporate Affairs and Communications Director Paul Moore – the right-hand man to uber woke chief executive Carolyn McCall who she brought with her from Easyjet in 2018.
"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.
"Surely, at the very least, I pushed Moore, ITV has a duty to investigate the information we were presenting to him?
"What harm is there in establishing the facts to ensure duty of care to their young staff member?
"But he made it clear the broadcaster had no intention of doing so."
Phillip’s statement yesterday reveals that he lied to people at ITV, from senior management to fellow presenters
It comes after ITV said yesterday they investigated claims into Schofield's affair with the boy – but the probe found no evidence "beyond hearsay and rumour".
Blasting Phil a liar, a spokesperson said both parties denied the rumours of a fling.
ITV also said no one employed on the daytime show This Morning knew of the affair as Schofield "lied" to everyone.
A spokesperson said: "Further to our statement last night, 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 This Morning 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's statement
In a statement Schofield said: "I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague.
"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."
Former co-star Holly had been MIA since the revelations until she posted a statement to her Instagram story on Saturday.
She told how she confronted him over the claims, and branded his deception “very hurtful”.
Holly said: "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."
And according to reports, Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary are furious at being made to pay tribute to Schofield just days before he admitted the affair.
Former This Morning presenter Eamonn Holmes launched a fresh scathing attack on Schofield on Friday – claiming he and co-presenter wife Ruth had been misled by their long-time colleague.
Posting on Twitter, Eamonn said: "Ruth and I [were] deceived and lied to. One day I will tell the story.
"We had no issue with him being gay, only support. What transpired took us for fools.
"The man told us complete lies and we unfortunately believed him."
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ITV issued a blistering statement today branding the veteran TV presenter a "liar".
This Morning was described as a "national treasure" and has been on Brits' screens for 35 years, with Schofield presenting for 21 of them.
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