ITV bosses ‘were warned over fears for Phillip Schofield lover’s welfare’ after This Morning affair, source claims
ITV bosses were warned over fears for Phillip Schofield’s lover’s welfare after their This Morning affair, a sources has claimed.
Schofield, 61, left This Morning when it emerged he had lied over the relationship with a runner almost 30 years his junior.
Phillip, who was married at the time of the affair, branded the relationship “unwise but not illegal”.
Now, it has been revealed a senior manager on ITV’s Loose Women reportedly sent an email to the channel’s top bosses to raise “serious concerns” about his affair with the unnamed runner, according to The Mail on Sunday.
The email was sent in early 2020 when rumours were rife within ITV that Mr Schofield had been in an on-off relationship with the man – whom the network refers to as Person X.
By then the young runner had been moved from This Morning to Loose Women, following the end of the relationship.
He was later paid off by the network after a short stint there.
A source told the Mail: “Early 2020 was a very difficult time for a number of people working on Loose Women. They were deeply saddened to see Person X’s mental health deteriorate.
“They would see him struggle at work but also outside of it, too; they witnessed him in some worrying states.
“His behaviour had become increasingly volatile, which now all makes sense. At the time various people had heard rumours about his relationship and it was thought that the fact he needed help with his mental health ought to be escalated to those higher up so he could get some support.
“It was then that the senior manager decided to put it in writing so there would be a paper trail of their concerns.”
An ITV spokesman said: “We do not have a record of the emails described”, adding that the network has given the runner ongoing care.
ITV chiefs told MPs last month that they were unaware of concerns about the production assistant.
But The Mail on Sunday disclosed that sources at the channel believe bosses, including ITV’s managing director Kevin Lygo, knew of an email that outlined worries about the man’s wellbeing.
The email warned that ITV had a duty of care towards him as a vulnerable employee.
Sources close to Mr Lygo say he has “no recollection” of it and no formal investigation was launched, reports the Mail.
There was no mention of this correspondence at a Commons select committee hearing which saw Mr Lygo and ITV’s chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall questioned about the scandal last month.
During a grilling by MPs last month, Dame Carolyn McCall branded the relationship “deeply inappropriate”.
But, despite rumours swirling around ITV for years, she admitted only “ongoing reviews” were held — and none established the full facts.
The ITV boss also denied the affair was an “open secret”.
She told the Culture, Media and Sport Committee she first became aware of a rumour about the relationship in December 2019, two years after she joined ITV.
Schofield and the runner — identified only as Person X — both “categorically denied” any affair.
INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY
Meanwhile, Mr Lygo said he confronted Schofield in February 2022 when he came out on This Morning and when he stepped down in May.
McCall added that Person X was given counselling and added: “We were helping him to talk freely without anybody else in the organisation even knowing about it.”
She said she ordered an external investigation after Schofield left, with stars including his co-host Holly to be questioned.
This Morning’s Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary will also be interviewed.
McCall said repeatedly at the hearing that bosses were waiting on the outcome to see if changes needed to be made.
But the report’s findings are unlikely to be published until the winter, according to sources.
And the investigation is only just about to get underway despite the intense focus on the case.
Jane Mulcahy KC is leading the independent inquiry for ITV.
It comes as Phillip Schofield rushed to his 87-year-old mother’s bedside in Cornwall earlier this week.
He had been keeping a vigil in a hospital where mum Pat was treated for an unknown condition for several days.
Schofield turned to his mum when he quit ITV amid controversy over an extra-marital affair with a much younger male colleague.