Phillip Schofield news LIVE: Latest updates after bombshell BBC interview with Amol Rajan over affair with younger lover as former This Morning presenter admits his ‘career is over’
Here, follow all the latest news and updates after Phillip Schofield spoke out on his affair with a younger colleague on This Morning.
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Conservative MP Dame Caroline Dinenage, chairwoman of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee has said the controversy over Schofield’s affair is ‘not just about ITV’.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘This particular incident to one side, it has shone a light on a whole system of issues which have been encountered around whistleblowing. People in this particular case specifically raised this issue with ITV bosses – were the specific whistleblowing procedures in place that we would want to see?
‘There is a suggestion of money changing hands. In the letter that I received from (ITV chief executive) Dame Carolyn McCall earlier this week, she said that this employee left in ’21, but ITV had continued to offer their support and continued to do so.
‘And I want to know whether that means in the case of moral, emotional support, or does that mean financial support, and what kind of precedent does that set, and whether there have been any non-disclosure agreements used in this, and what potential damage that could cause.
‘This is not just about ITV, this is about setting a precedent for other public service broadcasters in the way that young and potentially vulnerable and impressionable staff are protected.’
Phillip Schofield said he has ‘lost everything’ in the wake of his affair with a younger male colleague and told of a “catastrophic effect” on his mind.
The former This Morning presenter, 61, said the fallout from the revelations had been ‘relentless’ and urged the media to leave his former lover ‘alone now’.
Speaking to the BBC’s Amol Rajan, he told of the criticism he has faced since admitting to the affair, saying: ‘Do you want me to die? Because that’s where I am.’
He said he saw ‘nothing ahead’ of him and he had to talk about his career in television ‘in the past tense’.
He added: ‘It is relentless, and it is day after day, after day after day.’
‘I am deeply, deeply sorry that I lied to you’
In his first broadcast interview since the scandal erupted, Phillip Schofield explained how he messaged his former co-host Holly Willoughby to say he was ‘so, so sorry’ for lying to her about his ‘unwise, but not illegal’ relationship with the man who is 34 years his junior.
The broadcaster, 61, also lifted the lid on how Holly Willoughby distanced herself from him when his paedophile brother was jailed and confirmed they are no longer speaking after he left ITV.
He said: ‘I WhatsApped her on the day I put out the statement. I said that you don’t have to reply, you probably can’t, but I want to say I’m desperately, desperately sorry’, adding Holly, who is currently on holiday in Portugal, hasn’t replied.
Denying their relationship is ‘broken’, Schofield said today: ‘I adore Holly. I’ve always adored her. She’s my TV sister. I don’t have a problem with her at all.’
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ITV bosses are to be quizzed by MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport Committee about issues of ‘safeguarding and complaint-handling’ following the revelations that Phillip Schofield had an affair with a much younger man while working on This Morning.
The Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s decision to question ITV executives in the wake of Phillip Schofield’s departure is ‘not a witch hunt’, the committee’s chairwoman has said.
Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme why MPs are getting involved, Conservative MP Dame Caroline Dinenage said: ‘First of all, I want to take the individuals concerned out of this to the extent that I can. This is not a witch hunt.
‘This is about the fundamental issues of safeguarding and complaint-handling that this incident has shone a light on.
‘Our committee regards the duty of care towards staff, particularly when it comes to public service broadcasters, as a matter of very high importance. And there are a number of really significant issues that this case shines a light on.
‘And not least of which is this potential abuse of power, the workplace culture. We know that these gods of broadcasting, if you like, have phenomenal power.’
Phillip Schofield stuns by making ‘greatest apology’ to lover
Phillip Schofield failed to apologise to his wife Stephanie Lowe for his affair with a This Morning colleague in a bombshell BBC interview.
After publicly admitting to having an affair in an explosive statement, the presenter, 61, broke his silence to insist his ‘greatest apology’ over the fallout was to his former lover, adding he was ‘sorry to everyone he lied to.’
In the interview, which was released on Friday morning, Phillip admitted his relationship with Stephanie ‘isn’t brilliant right now,’ but they have ‘a wonderful marriage.’
The former ITV star defiantly flashed his wedding ring while hinting they could prepare their relationship in the future, after The Daily Mail revealed Stephanie has been left both furious and devastated by his admission that he had an affair.
Phillip told BBC’s Amol Rajan: ‘I had a wonderful marriage, have a wonderful marriage [waves his wedding ring], although it’s not brilliant right now, with a incredibly supportive wife and two wonderful children.
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Good morning, and welcome to MailOnline’s live blog bringing you all the latest updates and news amid Phillip Schofield’s exit from ITV following revelations about an affair with a younger colleague.
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