This Morning under fire as furious viewers say show should be taken off-air
THIS Morning viewers have turned on the show after Phillip Schofield’s affair with a much younger ITV worker was revealed today.
Phillip, 61 – who was axed by This Morning just last week – announced this evening that he has quit the channel after the affair with the male employee was exposed.
He apologised to his wife for cheating on her and also to the network for “lying to them” about the affair.
It’s understood the younger man, who was a teen when he met Schofield, is not a public figure and did not want the relationship to be revealed.
ITV broke their silence on the situation, with a spokesperson saying: “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. Philip 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.”
But angry fans of the show think it’s time it got the chop and were not impressed as the This Morning Twitter account shared a link to a feature on the show this evening, which had presumably been scheduled to go out.
In response, one person raged: “You should be taken off air permanently.”
A second said: “It’s about time the country boycott @thismorning it’s disgusting.”
While a third added: “What a pathetic attempt to distract , you should be taken off air.”
“I honestly think this is so toxic #thismorning should be taken off air even if it’s for a few months. If I was Alison Hammond I’d refuse to present the show on Monday….. awkward as hell!” said a fourth.
And a fifth commented: “No amount of rebranding will rescue #ThisMorning, it should be taken off air – everyone associated with it is tainted.”
In a statement tonight, Schofield said he’s “deeply sorry” for the affair which he said was “unwise, but not illegal”.
He said: “I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague.
“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.
Read more on Phillip Schofield:
- Phillip Schofield admitted he had affair with a much younger male This Morning employee,
- Schofield apologised to his wife Stephanie Lowe,
- Read Schofield’s statement in full,
- The star’s agency revealed why they dropped him,
- Schofield resigned from ITV and stepped down from presenting the British Soap Awards.
“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.”
Phillip Schofield was still married to his wife Stephanie Lowe at the time of the affair, who he tied the knot with in 1993.
They remained together after he revealed he was 2020.
And he said: “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.
“I have therefore decided to step down from the British Soap Awards, my last public commitment, and 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.”
