ITV 'found no evidence' when investigating Phillip Schofield affair claims
Both Phillip Schofield and a younger colleague repeatedly denied having an affair during an investigation led by ITV, Martha Fairlie reports
ITV says it "did not find any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour" when it investigated claims of an affair between Phillip Schofield and a younger colleague.
A spokesperson for the broadcaster said: “Further to our statement last night, ITV can confirm that when rumours of a relationship between Phillip Schofield and an employee of ITV first began to circulate in early 2020 ITV investigated. “Both parties were questioned and both categorically and repeatedly denied the rumours as did Phillip’s then agency YMU. “In addition, ITV spoke to a number of people who worked on This Morning and were not provided with, and did not find, any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour. “Phillip’s statement yesterday reveals that he lied to people at ITV, from senior management to fellow presenters, to YMU, to the media and to others over this relationship.”
On Friday Schofield, 61, admitted to having an affair with a much younger man at ITV, who worked with him on This Morning.
The relationship took place while he was still married to his wife, Stephanie Lowe, who is also mother to their two daughters.
It is understood the younger colleague is not in the public eye and did not want their relationship to be known.Schofield said: “The first thing I want to say is: I am deeply sorry for having lied to them (the Daily Mail), and to many others about a relationship that I had with someone working on This Morning," in a statement released through the Daily Mail.
He continued: “I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning.
“Contrary to speculation, whilst I met the man when he was a teenager and was asked to help him to get into television, it was only after he started to work on the show that it became more than just a friendship.
“That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over.”
The presenter added: “I am painfully conscious that I have lied to my employers at ITV, to my colleagues and friends, to my agents, to the media and therefore the public, and most importantly of all to my family.
“I am so very, very sorry, as I am for having been unfaithful to my wife.”
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