‘There are scores being settled’: This Morning editor Martin Frizell suggests outspoken ex-stars are taking revenge over Phillip Schofield scandal – as Chair of Culture committee accuses ITV of ‘lurching from one disaster to another’
- Mr Frizell told Sky News to ‘read between the lines’ amid claims of ‘toxicity’
- He spoke after Phillip Schofield admitted an affair with a junior male colleague
Editor of This Morning Martin Frizell has spoken out in the wake of Phillip Schofield’s departure from ITV as he claims ex-stars of the show are ‘settling scores’ amid accusations of a ‘toxic’ work environment.
Mr Frizell made the comments as the Chair of the Culture Committee accused the channel of ‘lurching from one disaster to another’ in the wake of the scnadal.
Schofield quit This Morning and later ITV entirely as he admitted he had an affair with a much younger man at the programme, who he first met when the teenager was just 15.
Speaking on Saturday morning, Mr Frizell denied he was ‘concerned’ about an external review which is to be carried out into ITV after MPs and leading industry figures raised concerns around safeguarding.
It comes after Schofield spoke out for the first time in an interview with the BBC yesterday, in which he appeared to accept that his television career was over.
This Moring editor Martin Frizell said he is not concerned about a review into the programme to be carried out by a top barrister
Phillip Schofield resigned from ITV after being forced to admit his affair with a young male colleague at This Morning
Mr Frizell told Sky News on Saturday he is ‘looking forward’ to speaking to the lawyer appointed to chair the review as he accused former employees who have spoken out about a ‘toxic culture’ at the show of ‘settling scores’.
He initially declined to answer questions about the review: ‘There’s lots of questions to answer but there’s a KC appointed for an external review and anything we may say now could be prejudicial, so I’d rather not.
‘There will be lots of time once it’s all over to go through who did what, when, why, but I’d rather not just now thanks.’
But he added he is not concerned about the review: ‘No, we’re looking forward to speaking to the KC, she’s very learned. She’ll get to the bottom of the questions to be answered, I’m sure she will find those answers.
‘All I want to say is I working with a fantastic team of mainly women, many mums, a lot of them concerned for their jobs although we’ve told them they don’t need to be.
‘This is the 23rd day now of being on the front page and it’s tiring. They worked all through covid brilliantly, they worked all through this putting a programme out […] and I just think they need a bit of respite now.’
When asked whether there was a toxic culture at This Morning, Mr Frizell said: ‘I think you’ve got to read between the lines. There’s some scores being settled.’
Mr Frizell said he would ‘rather not’ not into details around the review but said people should ‘read between the lines’ when considering if the show has a ‘toxic’ environment
Dame Caroline Dinenage has accused ITV of lurching ‘from one crisis to another’
Holly Willoughby with Phil Schofield and his lover on This Morning sofa
Former This Morning presenters and stars have been outspoken critics of the show in recent weeks, with Eamonn Holmes claiming Schofield ‘created an atmosphere’ on the programme ‘where people hated him’, labelling him a ‘chief narcissist’ whom others wanted to avoid.
On Monday, Holmes alleged that there was a ‘total cover-up’ on This Morning over Schofield’s affair.
He alleged that ‘those in authority’ had to have known what was going on.
‘It’s a total cover-up,’ he said. ‘Those in authority had to know what was going on and they thought they would dodge a bullet with this.
‘Which they do, and they do constantly, because with Schofield talking about those who speak out against him, namely me, Amanda Holden and you (Dan Wootton), you’ll be included in the toxicity that goes on. Dr Ranj, of course, as well.
‘And you simply sit there and think ‘No mate, you’ve had it all your way for too long’.’
There have also been allegations of a ‘toxic’ working environment, with former resident doctor Dr Ranj saying he raised concerns about ‘bullying and discrimination’ two years ago when he worked there and afterwards felt like he was ‘managed out’ for whistleblowing.
It was revealed this week that Holly Willoughby will be grilled by a top barrister over the scandal – and the show’s past and present presenting teams may also be quizzed about what they knew about Schofield’s affair, which he revealed last Friday.
Alison Hammond, Dermot O’Leary, Eamonn Holmes, Ruth Langsford and Dr Ranj Singh may all be asked to give statements to employment lawyer Jane Mulcahy KC.
It comes as the Chair of Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee said ITV appears to be ‘lurching from one tragic disaster to another’.
Speaking to GB News, Dame Caroline Dinenage – who is set to grill ITV’s chief executive over Phillip Schofield’s departure from This Morning next week – said the broadcaster ‘does not have a very good track record’ with duty of care towards staff and complaint handling.
Dame Caroline Dinenage accused ITV of ‘lurching from crisis to crisis’
She said: ‘ITV is a public service broadcaster, our committee and the public at large feel that it’s really important that they have a duty of care towards their staff, that this is a matter regarding issues of safeguarding, complaint handling and that is of high importance.
‘The public must have confidence in broadcasters to make sure that they are robustly safeguarding the interests of their staff.
‘Unfortunately, ITV do not have a very good track record over the last few years, we’ve had incidents with Love Island, with Caroline Flack. We’ve had the Jeremy Kyle show.
‘They seem to be lurching from one tragic disaster to another and I do feel it’s time that Carolyn McCall came before the committee and answered a few questions.’
In a climbdown after a crisis staff meeting, ITV said this week it was bringing in a barrister to ‘carry out an external review to establish the facts’.
The future of This Morning, which was jointly hosted by Schofield and Willoughby until he had to resign over an affair, is now uncertain as experts predicted that heads will roll.
ITV bosses, including Dame Carolyn McCall, have been under pressure to admit what they knew and when about the veteran presenter’s fling with a much younger colleague.
Schofield, 61, resigned from ITV last Friday, having already stepped down from This Morning, and was dropped by his talent agency after admitting – in an extraordinary statement to the Daily Mail – to his ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair.
Dame Carolyn said in a letter this week that ITV had been supporting the young man.
Speaking to the BBC on Thursday night, Schofield said: ‘I have to talk about television in the past tense, which breaks my heart,’ he told the BBC. ‘What am I going to do with my days? I see nothing ahead of me but blackness, sadness regret, remorse and guilt. I did something very wrong, and then I lied about it consistently.’
He said the criticism he’s faced since admitting the affair has had a ‘catastrophic effect’, adding: ‘Do you want me to die? Because that’s where I am. I have lost everything.’
Schofield told the BBC that the young man, who worked as a runner for a short period on This Morning, was 20 when he first had any kind of sexual contact with him.
He told The Sun they had become friends but in 2017 – three years before he came out as gay and separated from wife Stephanie Lowe after 27 years.
He also apologised to Holly Willoughby, who presented This Morning with him for 14 years, for lying about his secret relationship and for tainting her public image.
‘I’ve lost my best friend. I let her down. I let that entire show down. I let the viewers down,’ he told The Sun. ‘Holly did not know [about the affair]. And she was one of the first texts that I sent to say, ‘I am so, so sorry that I lied to you.’
‘She didn’t reply and I understand why she didn’t reply. So if anyone is in any way linking Holly to this, that is absolutely, wholly untrue.’
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