ITV has confirmed the British Soap Awards will go ahead as planned after Phillip Schofield resigned with just eight days’ notice following his affair admission.
The broadcaster has not yet confirmed who will be hosting next Saturday’s event in place of Phillip, 61, but bookies have named Joel Dommett as the favorite to take over.
It comes after Phillip, 61, left ITV and was sacked by his talent agency YMU after admitting an affair with a young male colleague of This Morning.
He admitted to having an “unwise but not illegal” relationship with a man during his marriage to Stephanie Lowe and previously denied the affair when his agent asked him about it.
Phillip was due to host the British Soap Awards next weekend after quitting This Morning last week, but confirmed in Friday’s statement that he has stepped down from all his ITV jobs, including the ceremony.
Plans: ITV has confirmed the British Soap Awards will go ahead as planned after Phillip Schofield (pictured in 2019) resigned with eight days’ notice following his affair admission
Following its announcement, ITV said the British Soap Awards will continue to take place in Manchester on June 3 and a replacement presenter is to be confirmed “in due course”.
An ITV spokesman said: “The British Soap Awards will take place as planned next Saturday and we will make further announcements in due course.”
Although an official replacement has not yet been confirmed, Joel Dommett is the bookies’ favorite to take over the hosting gig, followed by Dermot O’Leary.
Bookmakers Coral gave The Masked Singer (UK) host Joel, 37, at 1/2 to host the Soap Awards, closely followed by This Morning’s Dermot, 50, at 5/2.
Other presenters in the running are Bradley Walsh, Alison Hammond and Vernon Kay, according to Coral.
Coral’s John Hill said: “Joel Dommett beats our bet to replace Philip Schofield as host of the British Soap Awards 2023.” ITV will likely see him as the perfect candidate as he’s now one of the channel’s most popular presenters.
“Dermot O’Leary and Vernon Kay are both well-supported names, while Mo Giligan could be a part given his Brit Awards experience.”
Following his exit from This Morning, Phillip was still set on hosting the Soap Awards for the 13th straight year but confirmed on Friday he was leaving ITV altogether.
Favourite: The broadcaster has not yet confirmed who will host next Saturday’s event in place of Phillip, 61, but bookies have named Joel Dommett as a favourite
Presenter: After leaving This Morning, Phillip was still slated to host the Soap Awards for the 13th straight year but confirmed on Friday he was leaving ITV altogether
WHO WILL REPLACE PHILLIP SCHOFIELD AS THE HOST OF THE BRITISH SOAP AWARDS?
Bookmaker Coral has confirmed who it has named as the favorite to succeed Phillip at the British Soap Awards on June 3:
1/2 Joel Dommett
5/2 Dermot O’Leary
3/1 Bradley Walsh
4/1 Alison Hammond
6/1 Vernon Kay
8/1 Mo Gilligan
In a lengthy statement, Phillip admitted to having had an affair with a younger male colleague, which he said was “unwise but not illegal”, in which he 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.
Phillip stepped down last weekend after more than 20 years as This Morning presenter, before confirming the affair in a statement to the Chron on Friday.
He has also resigned from ITV and will no longer present the British Soap Awards. He was also fired “effective immediately” by his agents at YMU.
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.”
Bombshell: It comes after Phillip, 61, left ITV and was sacked by his talent agency YMU after admitting an affair with a young male colleague of This Morning
“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.”
“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.”
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.”
Admission: Phillip admitted to having an “unwise but not illegal” romance with a man during his marriage to Stephanie Lowe and previously denied the affair when asked by his agent
“Talent management is a relationship based 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.”
“As such, we agreed on Thursday to part ways with Phillip, effective immediately.”