ITV has faced many scandals recently, with the James Martin ‘bullying’ allegations the latest to hit the broadcaster.
Here’s a definitive timeline of all of ITV’s recent scandals – as well as how the broadcaster dealt with them…
ITV scandals: March 2018 – Ant McPartlin’s drink-drive crash
Back in March 2018, Ant McPartlin became involved in a car crash. He was arrested on suspicion of drink driving. The day after the crash, Ant met with Declan Donelly and ITV and stepped down from his TV roles.
In May 2018, he pleaded guilty and to the offence and became banned from driving for 20 months. He also received a fine of £86,000. He didn’t return to television for the rest of the year.
In a statement in August 2018, ITV said they felt “completely supportive of Ant taking as much time as he needs in his recovery”. Ant returned to ITV for the Britain’s Got Talent auditions in January 2019.
June 2018 – Death of Sophie Gradon
In June 2018, Sophie Gradon took her own life. Sophie had taken part in the 2016 series of Love Island. Following her stint on the show, Sophie revealed that she had been subject to intense trolling.
“It was horrific. I think when you get so many comments on the scale we did coming out of thousands of followers,” she told Radio Aire.
On June 20, 2018, Sophie was found dead at her parents house. ITV faced calls to provide more care for Love Island contestants after they leave the show.
August 2018 – Kim Woodburn vs Coleen Nolan
In 2017, Coleen Nolan and Kim Woodburn became pitted against each other in the Big Brother house. It’s safe to say that the pair didn’t get along.
18 months later, and Kim appeared on Loose Women to “bury the hatchet” with Coleen. However, things didn’t go to plan, and the pair ended up clashing again. Kim ended up storming off the set in tears.
Kim’s team later accused the star of being set up. Viewers seemed to think she had been too – with 7,000 of them complaining to Ofcom. Many accused the Loose Women of “bullying” Kim and called for Coleen to leave the show.
Coleen did take a break from the programme, however, she returned a few weeks later.
At the time, ITV issued a statement on the clash. A Loose Women spokesperson said: “Kim agreed to come onto the panel today at the invitation of the producers on the understanding it was for a reconciliation with Coleen. Kim becoming upset was never the intention and the panel did endeavour to comfort her. She was offered counselling after the show, which she declined.”
March 2019 – Mike Thalassitis dies
In March 2019, a second Love Island contestant passed away. Mike Thalassitis, who had appeared on Love Island in 2017, took his own life at a park in North London at just 26.
After Mike’s death, ITV announced a change in their aftercare policy. “When something so awful happens it is natural to enter a period of soul-searching and ask whether anything could have been done to help avoid something so terrible happening,” they said in a statement.
A review of their aftercare policies led to them realising more needed to be done.
“The key focus will be for us to no longer be reliant on the islanders asking us for support but for us to proactively check in with them on a regular basis,” they said. They also revealed they will be offering therapy to stars who reach out to them.
February 2020 – Death of Caroline Flack
The death of Caroline Flack rocked ITV and the UK to the core.
In December 2019, Caroline became charged with allegedly assaulting her boyfriend, Lewis Burton. Less than a week later, Caroline stepped down from hosting the upcoming winter series of Love Island.
“Love Island has been my world for the last five years, it’s the best show on telly. In order to not detract attention from the upcoming series I feel the best thing I can do is to stand down for series six,” she said at the time. Love Island bosses said the “door was open” for Caroline to return.
Later that month, Caroline pleaded not guilty in court. She was set to stand trial in March 2020. Caroline’s management criticsed the Crown Prosecution Service for what they were calling a “show trial”, even after Burton decided not to support the prosecution.
On February 15, Caroline took her own life at her flat. She was 40 years old.
ITV and Love Island were slammed, with many calling for the show to be cancelled. ITV’s duty of care was repeatedly called into question. The season of Love Island later continued. Shortly after Caroline’s death, boss Dame Carolyn McCall said: “As far as duty of care is concerned, we are absolutely focused on making sure our duty of care is, for both our participants and for our talent, world class. We want to be best in class for that.”
March 2021 – The Piers Morgan / Meghan Markle debacle
Back in March 2021, Meghan and Prince Harry gave their now infamous interview with Oprah Winfrey. During the interview, the royal couple made a number of shocking allegations against the royal family.
One of the allegations made was that a member of the royal family had allegedly asked what colour their son Archie’s skin would be. Meghan also spoke about how she received no help from the palace with regard to her mental health.
Piers was not happy with the interview, or with Meghan, and let rip on Good Morning Britain the next day. Piers’ rants continued until his infamous clash with Alex Beresford.
After receiving a record-breaking 57,121 Ofcom complaints – as well as criticism from the Duchess of Sussex herself – Piers quit his role on GMB.
“Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain. ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add,” ITV said in a statement at the time.
September 2022 – Queugate
In September, This Morning stars Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield were spotted seemingly “skipping” the queue to see the Queen lying in state. Some people in the queue itself waited over 12 hours to see the Queen lying in state.
The backlash was enormous, with many furious that the presenters had been allowed to “skip” the queue. Many even called for the presenters to be sacked. Over 70,000 signed a petition to get the duo removed from their roles on This Morning.
ITV issued a statement at the time, explaining that the duo had been presenting on the queue and the Queen lying in state. However, that didn’t stop the backlash.
However, that didn’t stop the backlash. Eventually, Holly and Phillip were forced to address it during a This Morning broadcast.
November 2022 – David Walliams involved in BGT leak
In November last year, audio of David Walliams allegedly making disparaging comments about a Britain’s Got Talent in 2020 became leaked. In the leaked recordings, Walliams allegedly called a contestant the C-word three times when they couldn’t hear.
“She’s like the slightly boring girl you meet in the pub that thinks you want to [bleep] them, but you don’t,” he said of a contestant.
In a statement, ITV slammed the comments. “We do not condone the language outlined in these allegations, and we have spoken to the producers of Britain’s Got Talent,” they said.
Shortly after, David announced that he was stepping down as a judge on the show after 10 years on the programme.
May 2023 – ‘Terrible white’ comment at the coronation
Like most broadcasters, ITV covered the coronation of King Charles in May. However, a comment made by one of the guests on the commentary team during the historic ceremony sparked controversy.
Bridgerton and Doctor Who star Adjoa Andoh was amongst those commentating on the coronation. As the royals piled out onto the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the ceremony, Adjoa commented on how “terribly white” the balcony was.
Some viewers were furious, with Ofcom receiving over 8,000 about Adjoa’s comments. ITV didn’t address the comments. Ofcom didn’t take any action either.
May 2023 – The Phillip Schofield scandal
In the week prior to Phillip’s This Morning exit, rumours of a rift between himself and Holly Willoughby hit headlines. On May 18, Phillip announced that he was stepping down from his role hosting This Morning. ITV responded by having Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary give Phillip a brief, strange, 30-second thank you for 20 years of service.
On May 26, Phillip announced that he had had an affair with a male colleague on ITV. He confessed to having lied to ITV about it. ITV responded with a statement cutting all ties with him.
“We are deeply disappointed by the admissions of deceit made tonight by Phillip Schofield,” they said. “The relationships we have with those we work with are based on trust. Phillip made assurances to us which he now acknowledges were untrue and we feel badly let down.”
“We accept his resignation from ITV and therefore can confirm that he will not be appearing on ITV as had previously been stated,” they then added.
May 2023 – Eamonn Holmes’ attacks on the broadcaster
Eamonn, who had left ITV in 2021, didn’t hold back with his attacks on ITV during the Phillip Schofield scandal. The Irish broadcaster accused ITV of “covering up” Phillip’s affair. He also accused ITV of never being kind to him.
“They weren’t kind when they tossed me out of the door and didn’t care where I was going,” he said.
ITV didn’t officially retaliate to Eamonn’s constant jibes, however, TV managing director Kevin Lygo did have a pop at him. Kevin spoke about former talent hitting out at ITV.
“It’s not surprising, is it, that when they go, they’re like, ‘Hate ITV, it’s awful.’ When the decade they were there, they were reaping the rewards and enjoying the job and everybody seemed to get on,” he said.
July 2023 – James Martin bullying allegations
The latest scandal to hit ITV is the James Martin bullying allegations that have come to light this week (Wednesday, July 26). James was accused of making crew members cry during the filming of his show, James Martin’s Spanish Adventure.
ITV released a statement on the accusations. “Following a complaint we received in May from members of the Blue Marlin production team about the filming of James Martin’s Spanish Adventure, we contacted Blue Marlin to discuss these concerns and to understand how the issues raised were being addressed and what actions were being taken,” they said.
James issued an apology to his social media pages after the allegations emerged.
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