Phillip Schofield has revealed his affair with a young gym runner began with a kiss in a dressing room before “five or six” sexual encounters.
The former This Morning presenter, 61, said the encounter took place at the ITV studios when the man was 20.
When asked directly by the BBC’s Amol Rajan if he had any sort of sexual relationship when his former lover was a minor, he replied: “God no. My statement says “consensual relationship, perfectly legal,” that’s what I mean [the statement] has been approved by both parties.’
Recalling the beginning of the affair, Schofield said, “He’d been working on the show for a few months and we became buddies, we were buddies.”
“We used to hang out in the studios, chat and stuff like that.”
The former This Morning presenter, 61, said his first romantic encounter with his lover happened at the ITV studios when the man was 20
When asked directly by the BBC’s Amol Rajan if he had any sexual relationship when his former lover (pictured) was a minor, he replied: “God no.”
“And then one day something happened in my dressing room that I’ll obviously regret forever, for him and for me — especially for him.”
“That happened maybe four or five times over the next few months and I know it’s unforgivable, but we weren’t friends, we weren’t in a relationship.”
“I was really at the end of my rope with my sexuality at the time and it just happened.”
Schofield said he started following his former lover on Twitter when he was 15, after a friend asked him to do so.
The channel said he was invited by a friend to visit a school, which he said he had done “thousands of times”.
He claimed he was later asked to follow “a fan” on Twitter who was 15 at the time – the presenter agreed.
Schofield recounted their first meeting to Rajan, “I was invited by a friend to open an acting school…”
“But whether it was immediately or sometime after, he said, ‘Are you going to follow him on Twitter because he’s a fan?'” So I said, ‘Yeah, sure, no problem,’ which I did.”
Rajan added, “And he was 15 at the time?”
Schofield said, “I follow 11,300 people and in all the time I’ve been on Twitter, there’s never been a hint of inappropriateness.”
He went on to say that the couple had “barely” any contact, but the young man later got in touch and asked “if he could visit the studios, sort of like an internship.”
BBC journalist Amol Rajan interviews Schofield
“I definitely said come down and check it out, which he did.”
Schofield told Rajan the man was 19 when he first expressed interest in a television career, and when Rajan asked him, looking back on their messages, “was there any flirtation with him?” Schofield replied: ” No, it was work stuff.
He added, “I’ve been on TV for 41 years.” There’s never been anything like it. No accusations.’
He strenuously denied that he “groomed” his former lover or sent him any sexual messages prior to the start of their relationship.
The presenter said he didn’t fall in love with the man and didn’t feel there was a power imbalance because “we would have become friends.”
When asked what ended their relationship, he said, “I was in a very bad mental state at the time about my own sexuality.” And it just sort of drifted off. We stayed friends, we are still friends.
“And I got him work and runner jobs on other shows that I’ve done because he was a very good runner and mate.” It’s always nice to have a team around you that you know.
Schofield said the last time he interacted with his former lover was “a few weeks ago” when he organized a lawyer for him because he needed “independent” support.
Schofield questioned himself about a photo that showed him attending the young man’s drama school when he was a student and only 15 years old
He denied ever telling Holly Willoughby that he had had a sexual relationship with the young man.
Later in the interview, Schofield shared how his two daughters, Molly, 29, and Ruby, 27, “were protective of me and kept their eyes on me,” adding that he felt a “strange numbness.”
The broadcaster also said he had “lost everything” in the wake of the revelations, admitting his “career was over” and that there had been a “catastrophic effect” on his mind.
Schofield continued, “I did something very wrong and then lied about it all the time, and that’s not something I can live with. ‘How do you live with that?’
The father-of-two was photographed driving in London yesterday, sitting in the back seat of a car next to a woman believed to be his daughter Ruby.
Schofield’s other daughter, Molly, is said to still be working for his former talent agency, YMU.
Web revealed yesterday that Molly only found out about his statement, in which he admitted to lying about his relationship, minutes before the story broke.