I still remember the critical telephone call.
It was November 2019 and I had recently left ITV Daytime after working as a showbiz presenter on the Lorraine show for ten years.
My departure from the station was complicated.
After being offered a new contract for the next 12 months, I was made clear by the network’s executives that there were two conditions attached to it that I didn’t want to accept.
First, any form of coverage of the then-developing Phillip Schofield scandal will have you snatched from the air (he had tried several times to have me fired by this point).
DAN WOOTTON: An ITV spokeswoman finally dismissed my 2019 story about Phillip Schofield, saying: ‘It is deeply disappointing and unfair for Phillip to be the target of this kind of malicious gossip.’ Pictured: The former ITV star Presenter can be seen on May 21st
Pictured: Dan Wootton presents Lorraine on ITV, where he worked as a showbiz presenter before leaving the channel in 2019
Second, I would have to stop any negative comment about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Again, this was non-negotiable for me as within two months I would be bringing to light the story of the Megxit and all the ensuing consequences for the royal family.
I told embattled ITV daytime director Emma Gormley to take up her ridiculous offer, left her soulless offices in a commercial estate near the iconic TV Center studios in London’s White City, and continued reporting about the growing civil war on This Morning was spot on.
At the time, there was open revolt among ITV Daytime talent and producers over the fact that Schofield’s young male colleague and lover, 34 years his junior, had been pulled from This Morning after their relationship deteriorated to to work on Loose Women.
Like almost everyone who worked at ITV Daytime, I knew the colleague fairly well – he had gone from being a cheerful and ambitious boy who wanted to be a TV presenter to someone clearly feeling the pressure of the extraordinary circumstances, which he was wrong to do had found.
I spoke personally to some of the Loose Women presenters, who were angry and worried they were having to deal with the very real aftermath of Phillip’s messed up professional and personal life.
At least one of the stars had filed a formal complaint with management.
Another told me, “We shouldn’t have to deal with Phillip’s messed up situation.” We love (the young worker) but he’s very troubled now. What if he doesn’t make it?’
The Loose Women riots coincided with the first signs of tension between Phillip and Holly Willoughby, who had fallen out at the time but are now repairing their working relationship.
Which brings me to the critical conversation with Paul Moore, ITV’s Group Corporate Affairs and Communications Director – the right-hand man of Uber Woke CEO Carolyn McCall, whom she brought from Easyjet in 2018.
At the time, I was Editor-in-Chief of The Sun and had spoken to eight well-known ITV stars who raised concerns about Phillip’s “toxic” behavior, particularly his inappropriate relationship with the man.
At the very least I urged Moore that ITV has a duty to investigate the information we put to it? What harm does it entail in investigating the facts in order to ensure the duty of care towards the young employee?
However, he made it clear that the broadcaster had no intention of doing so.
DAN WOOTTON: The Loose Women riots coincided with the first signs of tension between Phillip and Holly Willoughby (pictured presenting together in February 2023), who had fallen out at the time but later repaired their working relationship
Pictured: Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby appear on ITV’s This Morning program on May 18
In fact, an ITV spokeswoman eventually dismissed my 2019 story, saying: “It is deeply disappointing and unfair for Phillip to be the target of this type of malicious gossip.”
“Phillip is a very respected broadcaster and colleague and that’s not a description of This Morning at all that we recognize.”
As we now know, this was not “malicious gossip”; Phillip has now admitted to having an inappropriate relationship with the young colleague behind the back of his wife, who he met as a young teenager.
In a damage limitation statement today, ITV management claim they first learned of the rumors in 2020, stating: “ITV can confirm that ITV investigated when rumors of a relationship between Phillip Schofield and an ITV employee began circulated for the first time in 2020.”
“Both parties were questioned and repeatedly categorically denied the rumours, as did Phillip’s then-agency YMU.”
“In addition, ITV has spoken to a number of people who worked on This Morning and no evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumor has been received or found.”
“Phillip’s statement yesterday reveals he has lied to people at ITV, from senior management to other presenters, the YMU, the media and others, about this relationship.”
But as I just pointed out, the “rumors” were known months in advance because they were far more than just “rumours”; The man had become a non-negotiable part of Phillip’s life and ITV cars took him from the television studios to the presenter’s flat.
Given the legal restrictions on freedom of the press in the UK, I could only write a pale imitation of the true story, which read: “We have learned that Phillip’s assistant and personal runner – a man in his 20s – left this morning.” Working on Loose Women, despite a previous close friendship with him. ITV says he’s been promoted.’
I quoted a source on the show as saying, “It was weird because they were so close and then he went to Loose Women and they didn’t seem to talk much anymore.”
Regardless, many of ITV’s biggest stars have spoken out, expressing their horror that their broadcaster appeared to be conducting a cover-up, possibly to protect one of their biggest stars from an uncomfortable revelation.
It was surprising that McCall — a CEO who prides himself on being very bright and happy to sack the likes of Piers Morgan, Jeremy Kyle, Jeremy Clarkson, Carol McGiffin and Eamonn Holmes for not subscribing to her left-wing ideology — didn’t I’m not ready to even investigate a growing scandal.
But the story of Phillip and his beloved was not lost.
Managing Director Carolyn McCall (pictured) and her PR pal Paul Moore, whom she brought over from Easyjet in 2018, were running ITV at the time of the Schofield affair
An altercation broke out between the man and both Phillip and Holly at the National Television Awards on 28 January 2020, which was observed by senior ITV staff in attendance, including senior television director Kevin Lygo.
I also spoke to the colleague that evening and was incredibly concerned at how badly the growing scandal had impacted both his mental and physical health.
Contrary to false and malicious rumors circulating around the internet, I have never once suggested that the solution is to come out with Phillip Schofield, which the ousted presenter confirmed in his bombastic statement to the Chron last night when he said: “No one has “forced” me to come out.”
Phillip was well aware, however, that the story wasn’t going away, so just a week later he decided to appear on the This Morning sofa and include Holly, Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford in the announcement.
Eamonn said last night that he deeply regrets having been a part of this charade, writing on Twitter: “Ruth and I have been deceived and lied to.” One day I will tell the story. We had no problem with him being gay, just our support. What happened took us for idiots. “The man told us outright lies and unfortunately we believed him.”
Within weeks, the tension between Phillip and Holly on the ITV sofa was overshadowed by the outbreak of Covid-19.
But life didn’t get any easier for the poor young man whose dreams were dashed when he soon left ITV behind the scenes.
What happens to his career after photos from his meeting with Phillip at drama school are widely circulated on the Internet?
I deeply feel sorry for him, but I know he is surrounded by good people who are personally and professionally trying to protect him from this storm
To be fair to Phillip, he’s finally told the truth and admitted he lied to the media for many years when he fell under the sword at ITV.
Holly Willoughby held Schofield’s hand when he announced he was gay in February 2020
For ITV executives, however, there remain a host of deeply uncomfortable questions about whether they prioritized protecting the reputation of one of their wealthiest stars rather than doing the right thing.
Not to mention how they treated their young associate and whether they actively covered up an abuse of power.
ITV’s staff, both on and off screen, are extremely angry at management for putting the channel’s reputation at risk.
Given Carolyn McCall’s propensity to starve at the slightest political indiscretion, it’s hard to imagine how she could survive this very real scandal under her watch.