ITV bosses 'deeply disappointed' over Phillip Schofield's 'deceit'
ITV bosses have issued a statement following presenter Phillip Schofield's confession to having an affair with a younger man on the This Morning team.
Schofield, who had announced last Saturday (20 May) that he planned to step down from his This Morning post, issued a statement to the Daily Mail on Friday (26 May) saying that he had had a relationship with a 'younger male colleague' on the ITV programme - which he says was 'unwise, but not illegal'.
The 61-year-old noted that he had 'misled' his legal team, his employers, his agents, and his friends by trying to keep the relationship under wraps.
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Now ITV has issued its own statement in response to Phillip's admission, claiming that they felt 'badly left down' by the former This Morning star.
ITV bosses told LADbible: "We are deeply disappointed by the admissions of deceit made tonight by Phillip Schofield."
"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."
Phillip Schofield's agent also issued a statement to announce that they planned to 'part company' with Phillip.
Mary Bekhait, group CEO of the YMU Group, said: "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. These facts contradicted what Phillip had previously told YMU, as well as the external advisors we had brought in to support him.
"As a result, on Thursday we agreed to part company with Phillip, with immediate effect."
In his original statement, Phillip insisted that this 'consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague' was unrelated to his departure from This Morning, but increased speculation about his personal life had forced him to come forward.
"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," his statement had read.
"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 also stated that, while he met the unnamed colleague as a teenager who was trying to 'get into television', their relationship only became 'more than just a friendship' after he started working on This Morning.
"That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over," he stated.
LADbible attempted to contact representatives of Schofield for comment.
Topics: Phillip Schofield, ITV, TV and Film
Ali Condon