This Morning could be AXED amid Phillip Schofield bombshell and ‘very senior heads could roll’ at ITV
THIS Morning could be axed and “very senior heads could roll” as the drama of Phillip Schofield’s bombshell affair unravels.
The 61-year-old presenter was dramatically forced out of the iconic daytime show just last week and has now been quit ITV completely.
Schofield’s relationship with a “much younger male” employee while he was still married to ex-wife, Stephanie Lowe, has left insiders claiming top bosses could come under fire.
It is understood his former lover was just a teen at the time they met and trying to get into television.
The show was described as a “national treasure” and has been on Brits’ screens for 35 years, with Schofield presenting from the sofa for 21 of them.
But now, with the show’s future hanging in the balance, Holly Willoughby has been MIA since her former colleague left.
The 42-year-old hasn’t been seen publicly since May 18 when she last appeared on This Morning before taking a break for the half term.
And, an ITV Spokesperson said today: “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.”
But an inside source told The Sun: “This goes right to the top.
“Very senior heads could roll.
“If there’s any suggestion of a cover-up they could be culpable.
“It’s also possible that This Morning could end up getting the axe.”
It comes as:
- ITV denies knowing Schofield had a younger lover
- Holly hasn’t been since Schofield quit
- Eamonn Holmes speaks out before launching another attack on Schofield
- Schofield apologises to his wife Stephanie Lowe
- Schofield resigns from ITV and stepped down from presenting the British Soap Awards
- ITV breaks its silence on Schofield’s “deceit”
Fuming fans also think the show should be taken off-air, with many calling for a nationwide boycott.
Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary have been stepping in and had become the favourite front-runners to replace Schofield.
The disgraced TV personality has since been dropped from his talent management agency YMU, who represented him for 35 years.
In a statement they wrote: “Honesty and integrity are core values for YMU’s whole business, defining everything we do.
“Talent management is a relationship based entirely on trust.
“This week, we have learned important new information about our client Phillip Schofield.”
Plans for him to host Dancing On Ice despite his departure from This Morning and the British Soap Awards on June 3rd have also been cancelled.
He has hosted the ceremony since 2006, which is the same year he first did Dancing On Ice.
SCHOFIELD’S STATEMENT
After news of the bombshell affair broke last night the former This Morning host issued a statement.
He wrote: “I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague.
“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. When I chose to come out I did so entirely for my own wellbeing. Nobody ‘forced’ me out.
“Neither I nor anyone else, to my knowledge, has ever issued an injunction, super or otherwise, about my relationship with this colleague, he was never moved on or sacked by or because of me.
“In an effort to protect my ex-colleague I haven’t been truthful about the relationship.
“But my recent, unrelated, departure from This Morning fuelled speculation and raised questions which have been impacting him, so for his sake it is important for me to be honest now.
“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.
“I have therefore decided to step down from the British Soap Awards, my last public commitment, and am resigning from ITV with immediate effect expressing my immense gratitude to them for all the amazing opportunities that they have given me.
“I will reflect on my very bad judgement in both participating in the relationship and then lying about it.
That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over.”
Schofield
“To protect his privacy, I am not naming this individual and my deepest wish is that both he and his family can now move on with their lives free from further intrusion, and that this statement will enable them to do so.
“I ask the media now to respect their privacy. They have done nothing wrong, and I ask that their privacy should be respected.”
ITV came out with a statement following the dramatic exit which read: “We are deeply disappointed by the admissions of deceit made tonight by Phillip Schofield.”
In response to being cut from YMU, Schofield said: “It is with the most profound regret that after 35 years of being faultlessly managed by YMU I have agreed to step down from their representation with immediate effect.”
Former colleague Eamonn Holmes last night told how he was taken in by the presenter’s lies.
Posting on Twitter, Eamonn said: “Ruth [Langsford] and I [were] deceived and lied to. One day I will tell the story.
“We had no issue with him being gay, only support. What transpired took us for fools.
Phillip made assurances to us which he now acknowledges were untrue and we feel badly let down.”
ITV statement
“The man told us complete lies and we unfortunately believed him.”
This comes after the fallen TV presenter was fired from This Morning last week amid intense rumours concerning a feud between the pair.
Top brass at ITV decided the situation between them had become unworkable with obvious tension costing the show almost 200,000 viewers.
And, just a day before Schofield was axed from ITV, his brother Tim Schofield was jailed after being found guilty of “emotionally blackmailing” a teen into sex acts and forcing him to watch porn.
Timothy Schofield, 54, carried out a string of sexual offences – the most serious involving an alleged sex act with the boy.
And he was jailed for 12 years over the sickening child offences on May 19.