This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield, 61, who formerly hosted the show with co-star Holly Willoughby, 42, reportedly gave his ex-lover a gift that came back to bite him.
The Dancing On Ice star’s exit from ITV comes as he confessed to having an affair with a younger colleague while still married.
ITV has since confirmed it did investigate rumours of a relationship between Phillip and an employee in 2020.
Holly has since spoken out to condemn Phillip’s behaviour, describing how “hurt” she felt after her co-star had “lied to her” about the affair when she had apparently asked him.
There has been speculation over why Phillip chose to admit he’d had an affair many years later, but it has since been claimed that a recent gesture of help from the star towards his ex ended up becoming his undoing.
According to the Mail on Sunday, Phillip is said to have hired top law firm Mishcon de Reya to represent his former partner, who is now in his mid-20s.
The report claimed he had hired the law firm “presumably believing that” his ex “would keep quiet”.
According to the publication, however, Phillip’s ex unexpectedly confessed to the lawyers, despite the ITV star’s hopes that he would stay silent following the gesture.
The unnamed ex told lawyers that “although he feared exposure, he was fed up lying about the relationship”, the paper has claimed.
Apparently, it was this admission that prompted Phillip to confess the truth of their affair to his management company of 35 years, YMU, before going public with his statement.
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On Thursday, 25 May 2023, YMU Group parted company with Phillip, with Mary Bekhait, the Group CEO of YMU Group, releasing a statement that said: “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.
“These facts contradicted what Phillip had previously told YMU, as well as the external advisors we had brought in to support him.
“As a result, on Thursday we agreed to part company with Phillip, with immediate effect.”
Following Phillip’s public confession that he had entered into an affair with a much younger male, a spokesperson for ITV told Express.co.uk: “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.
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“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.”
It came after the broadcaster said they were “deeply disappointed by the admissions of deceit” made by Phillip on his social media pages.
“The relationships we have with those we work with are based on trust. Philip made assurances to us which he now acknowledges were untrue and we feel badly let down,” a spokesman said on Friday evening.
“We accept his resignation from ITV and therefore can confirm that he will not be appearing on ITV as had previously been stated.”
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