ITV stars have been mired in some huge controversies over the last few years – with Phillip Schofield the latest star to come under fire.
Let’s not forget the headache Ant McPartlin, David Walliams and the like have given the network…
ITV star Ant McPartlin’s drink driving car crash
Back in 2018, one of ITV’s biggest stars, Ant McPartlin, was caught up in some controversy. Ant was involved in a road traffic accident in London. He was subsequently arrested on suspicion of drink driving.
The day after his arrest, ITV suspended him. In April 2018, he was interviewed under caution and charged with drink driving. Ant then went on to plead guilty and was banned from driving for 20 months. He was also fined £86,000. Later that year, he announced he would be taking a break from television until 2019. Holly Willoughby co-hosted that year’s I’m A Celebrity.
The star – along with Dec Donnelly – reportedly signed a 3-year deal with ITV worth £40m in 2019.
ITV controversies: Piers Morgan leaves GMB
Piers Morgan has always been a controversial figure, however, in 2021, his challenging side took him a little too far.
In the aftermath of Meghan and Prince Harry’s interview with Oprah, Piers was incandescent. As well as disputing Meghan and Harry’s numerous claims about their life as royals, Piers also clashed with weatherman Alex Beresford.
However, Piers seemingly put the nail in the coffin of his own ITV career by disputing Meghan’s claims about her mental health. He quit the show later that day and transitioned to TalkTV in 2022.
Piers reportedly had a salary of £1.1 million per year for his GMB slot.
David Walliams’ ITV and Britain’s Got Talent controversy
David Walliams was a fan favourite judge on Britain’s Got Talent – until last year that is.
In November 2022, it emerged that David had made sexually explicit and derogatory remarks about a female contestant during recording back in January 2020.
Walliams apologised for his comments when they were made public. “I would like to apologise to the people I made disrespectful comments about during breaks in filming for Britain’s Got Talent in 2020. These were private conversations and – like most conversations with friends – were never intended to be shared. Nevertheless, I am sorry,” he said.
However, he later announced that he was quitting the show. The Little Britain star reportedly earned £1.8m per season on the hit ITV show.
Phillip Schofield latest ITV star mired in controversy
The latest ITV big earner to be hit with controversy is Phillip Schofield. The host of This Morning has hardly been out of the headlines since last September.
In September, Phillip and his co-host Holly Willoughby were involved in the Queue-gate scandal. Holly and Phillip were spotted “skipping” the queue to see the Queen lying in state. As expected, there was much backlash.
Last month, it then emerged that Phillip’s brother was set to stand trial for sexually abusing a teenager. After his brother was found guilty, Phillip released a statement distancing himself from him.
Now, there are rumours of a rift between Holly and Phillip. As the reports increase, it remains to be seen how long Phillip will stay in his coveted ITV role.
Phillip is believed to earn £600,000 per year for his This Morning hosting gig.
ITV controversies: James Barrowman kicked off Dancing On Ice
Back in 2021, John Barrowman‘s career took a hit thanks to historic allegations making a comeback. The actor was accused of exposing himself on the set of Doctor Who and Torchwood back in the noughties. Barrowman responded to the reports,
“I think if it was now it would be crossing the line. Fifteen years ago was bawdy behaviour […] the fact it was stories I’ve already told, haven’t hidden anything […] they’ve tried to turn them into sexual harassment which it absolutely is not,” he said.
He was removed as a judge from Dancing On Ice after the controversry. The show he was hosting, All Stars Musicals, was cancelled too.
Carol McGiffin leaves show Loose Women
Loose Women star Carol is also another ITV star who’s been involved in a bit of controversy recently. The 63-year-old recently quit Loose Women due to a “behind the scenes issue”. However, the issue in question hasn’t been revealed…yet.
After leaving the show, Carol took the opportunity to slam it. She accused the show of forcing “woke views down viewers” throats”. She also said the “programme has gone very, very woke.”
According to reports, Carol earned £750,000 per year, though this is uncomfirmed.
Richard Madeley centre of plenty of ITV controversies on GMB
Richard has been making headlines a lot recently, with the GMB star regularly seeming to put his foot in it while on the show. The 67-year-old courted controversy last year when he clashed with Mick Lynch, telling the RMT Union boss to “jog on”.
He’s also clashed with Extinction Rebellion guests and recently came under fire for “ruining” a little boy’s surprise on the programme. He was also slammed recently for hitting out at the NHS for striking.
Richard is believed to earn £300,000 per year for hosting GMB.
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