Leaving aside all the speculation and rumours, the reason Phillip Schofield ‘left’ This Morning is still totally unclear.
On Friday evening, Schofield released a statement admitting that he’d had an affair with a younger colleague on the ITV show.
In the carefully-worded announcement, the 61-year-old expressed regret for lying to his wife, his colleagues and his bosses about the relationship.
But he also claimed this indiscretion was NOT the reason for him departing his much-loved job at This Morning.
Schofield’s statement on affair
Schofield’s full statement reads: “I am making this statement via the Daily Mail to whom I have already apologised personally for misleading, through my lawyer who I also misled, about a story which they wanted to write about me a few days ago.
“The first thing I want to say is: I am deeply sorry for having lied to them, and to many others about a relationship that I had with someone working on This Morning. 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.
“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.
Protecting the ex lover
“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. 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 I 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. To protect his privacy, I am not naming this individual. 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.
