Phillip Schofield has hit back at people who held a 'grudge' against him after quitting This Morning.
Schofield had announced earlier this month that he was taking a step back from the ITV morning show after presenting it for two decades.
Now, the former presenter has issued a new statement, calling out critics who have had harsh words for both him and This Morning.
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While he didn't name any names, Phillip insisted to grudge-holders that This Morning really was 'the best show to work on'.
In a statement posted to his Instagram Story on Monday (29 May), he wrote: "Now I no longer work on @thismorning I am free to say this.
"I hope you have noticed that it’s the same handful of people with a grudge against me or the show who seem to have the loudest voice.
“This Morning IS the best show to work on, with the best people. In all the years I worked there there was no toxicity.
"You can listen to those persistently loud voices if you like. But the thousands of guests over the years, thousands of staff and crew, hundreds of presenters and contributors all know, it IS a family of wonderful, talented, kind and hardworking people."
This comes after Phillip revealed that he had been engaged in an affair with a younger male colleague while working on This Morning.
In a statement to the Daily Mail, he revealed: "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."
Phillip went on to say that, when he came out in 2020, he 'did so entirely for [his] own wellbeing', and insisted that nobody 'forced' him out.
He continued: "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.
"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."
Schofield then announced that he would be resigning from ITV entirely and stepping down from his last public commitment as the host of the British Soap Awards.
Shortly after the statement was released, ITV came out with their own comment.
Speaking to LADbible, they said: "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."
Topics: Phillip Schofield, This Morning, ITV, TV and Film, UK News
Ali Condon