One of British television’s most popular daytime shows is in crisis, sparked by the news that one of its co-presenters had an affair with a younger colleague.
The scandal has for days dominated news headlines and upended the clean-cut image of This Morning, a show known for its daily dose of news, light entertainment and recipes.
An almost ever-present figure on British daytime TV, Phillip Schofield suddenly quit when he admitted he had lied about the relationship to his employer, broadcaster ITV, and his wife, agent and lawyer.
A frenzy of media speculation and gossip preceded the revelation, and Schofield has now told the BBC he believes his career is over – apologising for a “grave error” of judgement.
So what is this scandal about and why has it gripped the UK?
From TV’s ‘golden couple’ to Queue-gate
The 61-year-old has presented This Morning for the past 20 years. It is a mid-morning show predominantly made up of celebrity interviews, entertainment news, current affairs, cooking and consumer advice.
He and co-host Holly Willoughby were widely known as “daytime TV’s golden couple”. Viewers loved their on-screen affection and easy going chemistry with clips of them breaking into fits of giggles on air together repeatedly went viral.
Schofield came out as gay on the show in 2020 in an emotional and stripped-down interview with Willoughby who was close to tears.
But, in recent weeks, before news of his affair broke, reports their friendship was souring emerged.
Before the most recent tabloid headlines there was a lot of negative press coverage around so-called “Queue-gate”, where the pair were seen by many to have skipped the miles-long queue to view the late Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin, which was lying in state.
Though they were granted formal press access along with other journalists, this contrasted with celebrities like footballer David Beckham who had joined members of the public queuing outside.
Then in April, Schofield’s brother Timothy was found guilty of sexually abusing a boy. Philip Schofield took time off from the show during his brother’s court trial and some fans declared they preferred Willoughby’s dynamic with her temporary co-host.
Schofield in turn released a statement about the reported feud, saying things “haven’t been easy for either of us”, but that Willoughby was his “rock”.
She did not publicly respond and they presented another show together without referencing reports about their friendship.
Why did Schofield quit?
As reports of the pair’s rift continued and rumours of his personal relationships circulated on social media, Schofield stepped down from presenting This Morning.
Then last Friday, he quit ITV altogether (he presented other shows including Dancing on Ice with Willoughby) after releasing an apology for lying about an affair he had with a younger colleague that was “unwise but not illegal”.
Schofield confirmed he first met the man – then aged 15 – when he was invited to appear as part of an event at a drama school many years ago.
He and the young man began communicating on Twitter following the event. Schofield said he was asked for advice on working in the TV industry.
Schofield told the BBC that the man was 20 years old when he first had any kind of sexual contact with him.
“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.” he wrote.
Holly Willoughby said the revelation was “very hurtful”, while ITV said they were “deeply disappointed by the admissions of deceit” made by Schofield, and confirmed it had cut all ties with the host.
But the broadcaster has been subject to its own questions over whether a 2020 investigation into the affair went far enough and is now undergoing an external review into how it handled the case.
What has Schofield said about the scandal?
In a BBC interview broadcast on Friday, Schofield appeared exhausted and distressed as he spoke of his career being over and how he was “desperately sorry.”
“I see nothing ahead of me but blackness, and sadness, and regret, and remorse, and guilt. I did something very wrong and then I lied about it consistently,” he said in a frank interview with the BBC’s Amol Rajan.
Referring to his former colleague, he said: “He is an innocent party here. I was older, I should have known better. [The affair] was consensual, but it was my fault.”
Homophobia has intensified the backlash he received, he also said: “I fully appreciate there is a massive age gap, but that happens in life. I think there is an enormous amount of homophobia that it happens to be male, but if it was male-female then it wouldn’t be such a scandal.”
He said understood people who thought there had been an abuse of power, but that it “didn’t feel like that at the time”.
Source – BBC News
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