Yahoo Sports ITV admits it investigated Phillip Schofield's affair in 2020
ITV has admitted that it investigated allegations that Phillip Schofield had an affair with a younger employee as early as 2020.
The broadcaster said in a statement that it had questioned both Schofield and the younger man, but that both had “repeatedly denied” the rumours.
It follows mounting pressure for ITV executives to explain exactly what they knew after the veteran This Morning host admitted the “unwise” but “not illegal” affair on Friday night.
He said he was “deeply sorry” for having lied to his wife and to ITV about his relationship with a young man reportedly 30 years his junior and whom he first met as a teenager.
On Saturday Esther McVey, the former cabinet minister and television host, predicted that ITV's chief executive, Caroline McCall, would be forced to step down “in a matter of days” over the scandal.
Schofield, 61, quit as presenter of the flagship daytime programme last week amid reports of a feud with co-star Holly Willoughby.
However, the dramatic move reignited rumours of a previous “inappropriate” affair.
An ITV spokesman said on Saturday: "Further to our statement last night, ITV can confirm that when rumours of a relationship between Phillip Schofield and an employee of ITV first began to circulate in early 2020 ITV investigated.
"Both parties were questioned and both categorically and repeatedly denied the rumours as did Phillip's then agency YMU.
"In addition, ITV spoke to a number of people who worked on This Morning and were not provided with, and did not find, any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour.
"Phillip's statement yesterday reveals that he lied to people at ITV, from senior management to fellow presenters, to YMU, to the media and to others over this relationship."
It emerged on Friday that Schofield has been dropped by the YMU agency on the basis that he had lied to them about the affair.
When he came out as gay in February 2020, he said he had done so for the sake of his own “wellbeing”.
Speaking on GB News, Ms McVey, a former GMTV host, compared the ongoing revelations at ITV to the scandal surrounding the defunct News of the World, which closed after allegations of phone hacking.
“People could lose their jobs over this, from the Chief Executives right the way down,” McVey said. “So will we see heads rolling and will we see this show go?”
“I would say that it's a matter of days now for the chief executive there and other people because they're going to have to draw a line. They're going to have to say this is definitive.”
When Schofield stepped down from This Morning last week, ITV executive Kevn Lygo praised his broadcasting skills and promised him a new prime-time ITV show.
However, the corporation now says Schofield will no longer work for them.
It means Schofield will be replaced as host of the British soap awards next week.
