Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary feel abandoned by beleaguered former This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield after his affair with a significantly younger male colleague was confirmed just days after their effusive tribute to the presenter.
On Friday, the 61-year-old left ITV and was sacked by his talent agency YMU after revealing he had an affair with a young colleague while still married to Stephanie Lowe – the mother of his two children.
Days earlier, Alison, 48, and Dermot, 50, paid tribute to “top broadcaster” Phillip at the opening of their usual weekend show, just 24 hours after his last appearance on This Morning after 21 years on camera.
The couple are now said to be upset at being drawn into the situation after details of his affair with the colleague, who was said to be a runner who wanted to be a TV presenter, finally emerged.
A source told Web: “Obviously a lot of people both in front of and behind the camera were upset after Phillip’s extraordinary statement on Friday. It’s fair to say they’re disappointed.”
Unimpressed: Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary feel let down by beleaguered former This Morning host Phillip Schofield
End: On Friday, Phillip, 61, left ITV and was sacked by his talent agency YMU after admitting he was having an affair with a younger This Morning colleague
Phillip received just a 30-second tribute at the start of This Morning on Friday May 19 when Alison and Dermot stepped in after he was sacked after 21 years.
The couple started the show by briefly discussing his exit, but there was no montage, just a single on-screen photo of the veteran host and about half a minute of warm words.
Opening the show, Alison said, ‘We cannot begin tonight’s show without paying tribute to the man who has spent the last two decades on the This Morning sofa.’ Phillip Schofield.’
Dermot added: “As a show, everyone on and off screen at ITV and This Morning says a huge thank you to Phil for what he’s done to make the show such a success over the past 21 years.”
Alison continued, “Quite simply, we all know he’s one of the best live television channels this country has ever had and we and the whole team wish him all the best for the future.”
It’s currently unclear who will be hosting tomorrow’s show and if Alison and Dermot will be stepping in again.
A week later, Phillip announced he had left ITV entirely, stepping down from his last existing engagement with the channel, the British Soap Awards.
The broadcaster, who was also fired by longtime agent YMU, admitted to having an affair with a younger male This Morning colleague.
When the colleague was 15, the student asked him for a job, and Phillip later arranged an interview for him. This led to him taking a job as an ITV production assistant at the age of 18. Some time later their affair began.
Warm words: After his final show on Thursday May 18, Alison and Dermot paid tribute to Phil for just 30 seconds (Phil appeared on This Morning this month with his former co-host Holly Willoughby).
News of Alison and Dermot’s dismay comes just hours after MP Nadine Dorries put pressure on Phillip’s co-host Holly Willoughby and called for an investigation into complaints made to ITV about Phillip on This Morning.
The former culture minister also accused him of bullying and abuse of “authority, power and trust” after admitting to having an affair with the younger colleague and covering it up with lies.
The presenter left ITV after admitting to the Mail he lied about an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a much younger man. He also apologized to his wife Stephanie, almost 30, who stood by him after he came out as gay in 2020.
His 13-year-old co-host Holly, who Dorries’ wife now claims has “questions to answer”, said it was “hurting” to learn she had been lied to about rumors about the affair speech.
Sources close to the host said it was a “traumatic” revelation for the This Morning host and a “time of real sadness” because Schofield was “her very close friend” but she “had absolutely no plans.” to leave the show”.
ITV confirmed they had investigated rumors of the relationship that first circulated in 2020 but that Phillip and the young man had “repeatedly denied” the affair.
Kevin Lygo, director of television at ITV, today denied any errors were made in the channel’s investigation. When asked if any mistakes had been made, he simply replied “no” as Sky News confronted him about which bosses at ITV knew what.
While Phillip’s 38-year career is in tatters, Ms Dorries is the latest to speak out against the TV presenter, who has been accused of “toxic” behavior by eight ITV stars, according to Dan Wootton.
Apology: Phillip’s affair came during his nearly 30-year marriage to his wife Stephanie, 59, and Phillip said he was “so sorry” for having been unfaithful
Calling for an inquiry into the complaints made to ITV, she told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg today: “The fact that Phillip Schofield has emailed a rather humble apology to the Chron seems to understand that it is now.” and everything will go on. I am afraid that is not the case.
“What it actually does is raise more questions about what happened.” We know ITV has had complaints for a long time. What happened to these complaints? I think the show’s editor, Martin Frizell, has a few questions of his own to answer.
“And I’m afraid so does Holly Willoughby. How did this little boy, so young, get a job at ITV? Which processes were involved? What protections were there for someone so young? Which contact was made first? Who contacted whom?’
When asked if moderators like Schofield had too much power, Ms Dorries, who recently introduced herself, added: “There are men, especially men, who hold positions of authority or positions of trust and power and think they are above the law .” and above the standards that the rest of us hold and that we hold ourselves to.
“I think there’s absolutely an element of what’s happening.”
Describing her own experience on the This Morning sofa, she said: “[It’s] It is never easy, as you know Laura, being interviewed by a moderator or journalist as a politician, it is never an easy experience.
“But I found that he was quite bullying in his attitude toward the co-anchor who was filling in for Holly Willoughby.” That made me more uncomfortable than answering the questions. When the camera was on me and I was talking, he started aggressively typing on the scripts with his hands, the pages clattering. “The co-host looked scared.”
Phillip admitted to the affair, which he said was “unwise but not illegal”, in a lengthy statement on Friday, and also apologized to his wife and family.
The “unwise” relationship took place during his nearly 30-year marriage to his wife Stephanie, 59, and Phillip said he was “so sorry” for having been unfaithful.
Stephanie, who shares children Ruby, 27, and Molly, 29, with Phillip, made a statement when her husband came out as gay in a moving segment of This Morning in 2020.
In a statement, the former ITV presenter said: “I am making this statement via the Chron to which I have already personally apologized for misleading a story about my lawyer who I also misled .” [sic] what you wanted to write about me a few days ago.
“The first thing I want to say is, I’m deeply sorry that I lied to you and many others about my relationship with someone who worked on This Morning.”
Family: Stephanie has two daughters with Phillip, Ruby (27) and Molly (29). Stephanie pays tribute to Phil when he came out as gay in 2020
“I was in a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning.”
“Contrary to speculation, while I met the man as a teenager and was asked to help him break into television, it wasn’t until he began working on the show that it grew into more than a friendship.”
Phillip Schofield’s full testimony as he admits having an affair with young This Morning colleague:
I am making this statement via the Chron to which I have already personally apologized for deceiving a story through my lawyer whom I also misled [sic] what you wanted to write about me a few days ago.
First thing I want to say is I am deeply sorry that I lied to you and many others about my relationship with someone who worked on This Morning. I was in an on-off, consensual relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning.
Contrary to speculation, I met the man as a teenager and was asked to help him get into television, but it wasn’t until he began working on the show that it became more than a friendship. This relationship was unwise, but not illegal. Now it’s over…
I am painfully aware that I have lied to my employers at ITV, my colleagues and friends, my agents, the media and by extension the public and most importantly my family. I am very, very sorry that I was unfaithful to my wife…
I am resigning from ITV with immediate effect and I would like to express my huge thanks to them for all the great opportunities they have given me.
I will reflect on my very poor judgment when I participated in the relationship and then lied about it.
“This relationship was unwise, but not illegal.” Now it’s over…
“I am painfully aware that I have lied to my employers at ITV, my colleagues and friends, my agents, the media and by extension the public and most importantly my family.” I am very, very sorry for being unfaithful to my wife have become…
“I am stepping down from ITV with immediate effect and I would like to express my enormous gratitude to them for all the great opportunities they have given me.”
“I will reflect on my very poor judgment when I participated in the relationship and then lied about it.”
After testifying, an ITV spokesman said: “We are deeply disappointed by the admission of deception made by Phillip Schofield tonight.”
“The relationships we have with those we work with are built on trust.” Philip gave us assurances that he now admits were untrue, and we feel badly let down.
“We accept his retirement from ITV and can therefore confirm that he will not be appearing on ITV as previously announced.”
Yesterday broadcaster Dan Wooton revealed he told ITV about Phillip’s affair with his young colleague in 2019 and urged them to investigate, but they dismissed it as “malicious gossip”.
In his exclusive Mail article, Dan also revealed that ITV staff had filed complaints about Schofield’s behaviour.
He said: “I was Editor-in-Chief of The Sun at the time and had spoken to eight well-known ITV stars who raised concerns about Phillips’ ‘toxic’ behaviour, particularly his inappropriate relationship with the man.”
According to him, Phillip has also separated from his management team YMU after 35 years.
Mary Bekhait, Group CEO of YMU Group, said, “Honesty and integrity are core values throughout YMU’s business and guide everything we do.” Talent management is a relationship built solely on trust.
“This week we learned important new information about our client Phillip Schofield.
“These facts contradicted what Phillip had previously told YMU and also the outside consultants we had brought in to assist him.”
Questions continue to mount over the future of ITV bosses, including CEO Carolyn McCall, and the popular daytime TV show, prompting the broadcaster today to insist This Morning will not be scrapped.
Tough: Phillip apologized to his wife Stephanie Lowe (pictured), who stood by him after he came out as gay in 2020
Shutting down the speculation with a direct 30-word statement, an ITV spokesman said today: “As we put on record yesterday, This Morning is not under review and there are no plans to cancel the show.”
“This morning will be normal again tomorrow.”
It comes after Holly opened up about her devastation when she found out he lied to her about the relationship.
She revealed: “When reports of this relationship first surfaced, I asked Phil directly if that was true and was told it wasn’t. “It was very hurtful to find out now that was a lie.”
Holly, who will officially be back on the show on Monday June 5 after a two-week family vacation, may be extending her time off in a desperate bid to avoid being dragged further into controversy, PR guru Mark Borkowski has said.
The team behind ITV’s golden girl, including their advisors, agents and lawyers, must now “find the right things” to guarantee their future, he claimed.
Mr Borkowski told Web: “For Holly, it’s about staying out of the headlines and taking some time off from disappearing from public view.
“Of course she won’t be working on TV at the moment, she might be able to extend that.” She’s the girl next door. She has made huge commercial deals, is clearly a talent and is clearly liked.’
He added that Holly now needs to show viewers they can trust her – as many wonder who at the network knew about Schofield’s relationship with his colleague.
To Holly, he said, “Just because you’re a celebrity, you’re subject to a higher level of scrutiny.” [but] Everyone fails, there is drama in everyone’s life.
“In my view, we have yet to know, and it’s up to her to restore her audience’s confidence and get her representatives to work extremely hard to regain some of the ground that may have been lost,” said Mr. Borkowski .
After Phillip left This Morning last weekend, he was still set on hosting the British Soap Awards for the 13th straight year, but he won’t be doing so anymore having left ITV altogether.
Meanwhile, This Morning regular Carol Vorderman announced on Friday who she thinks will replace Phillip Schofield on This Morning.
During an appearance on BBC’s Have I Got News for You, 62-year-old Carol hinted at who alongside Holly Willoughby would permanently replace Phillip, with the star claiming it was Alison Hammond.
Former Countdown regular Carol appears on This Morning every other Friday to discuss a variety of topics.
When her team captain Ian Hislop told her she could replace Phillip, Carol said ‘No!’ Probably Holly and Alison I would have thought.’
Presenter Steph McGovern asked Carol, “Is that where your money is?” She replied, “That’s where I would put my money.”
Alison currently co-hosts the show every Friday with Dermot O’Leary.
Phillip met his future lover at a drama school in north west England when he was in his late 40s.
A few years later, the younger man became a production assistant on This Morning when Phillip was in his early 50s and their ill-advised friendship-turned-relationship began.
The affair scandal follows a tumultuous few months for Schofield, who was ITV’s king of daytime television for decades.
But eight days ago he sensationally left This Morning after a 21-year feud with Holly. His departure comes just a day after his younger brother Timothy was sentenced to 12 years in prison on 11 convictions for sex offenses against a child.
Phillip was forced to confirm the allegations of an affair as true because his former lover – who also starred on This Morning – unexpectedly confessed everything to his lawyers.
The presenter had hired top law firm Mishcon de Reya to represent the young man, now in his mid-20s, presumably believing he would remain silent.
But his former lover told lawyers that while he’s afraid of being exposed, he’s tired of lying about the relationship.
Despite ITV investigating Phillip’s affair in 2020, a senior lawyer said the affair should be “investigated” over a possible “abuse of power”.
Richard Scorer of Slater and Gordon said that while full details of the relationship are not yet known, “every situation in which a young person may have been subjected to an imbalance of abuse of power requires full and independent investigation.” .
The abuse specialist added that with the long-standing rumors surrounding the affair – and claims that others at ITV knew about the relationship – it was “essential that a full and transparent investigation be conducted”.
The calls for an inquiry come as the ITV boss is said to be convinced This Morning’s reputation has been “irretrievably damaged” and that presenters and crew are fighting for their jobs.
PR expert Mark Borkowski told Web that the future of ITV bosses, including McCall, is likely to be secure because Schofield has admitted to deceiving everyone.
As for Phillip’s future in television, he said, “Phillip Schofield has no future, it’s over for him because he lied to everyone and admitted it.”
He added that ITV now needs to move on and focus on programming. “Holly Willoughby and all of her advisors and publicists have to work extremely hard and work on great television to bring that back,” he said.
“ITV and all these people need to get their PR right.” It was DIY PR. From a PR perspective, it was the equivalent of finding a gas leak with a match.
“Make no mistake, the pressure is on the program and Holly to deliver it.” The question is whether viewers will abandon the program.”