Holly Willoughby could be questioned over Phillip Schofield’s exit (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
Holly Willoughby may be quizzed by a barrister over Phillip Schofield’s This Morning departure in an external ITV review.
The broadcaster’s chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall confirmed on Wednesday that a barrister is conducting an external review of the facts surrounding his exit.
Schofield, 61, quit This Morning after rumours that he and Willoughby were ‘barely speaking’ behind the scenes and that their relationship had cooled.
Days later, he sensationally resigned from all his ITV projects in their entirety after revealing on Friday that he had an ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair with a young male show runner on This Morning while still with his wife Stephanie Lowe, which, according to Schofield, began when the unnamed production assistant turned 18, having known him since he was 15.
ITV later insisted that an investigation had been conducted at the time of the events, but no evidence was found.
However, an external review into the facts surrounding his departure is now being launched, as confirmed in a letter from Dame McCall.
Schofield resigned from ITV shortly after quitting This Morning (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Willoughby will continue presenting This Morning (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
This could not only include Willoughby, who is returning to presenting This Morning on Monday, June 5, but also the likes of Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary, who have been stepping in to host.
Eamonn Holmes and Dr Ranj Singh – who have spoken out about the ‘toxic’ atmosphere at ITV – as well as Holmes’ wife and Loose Women panellist Ruth Langsford may also be asked to give statements to employment lawyer Jane Mulcahy KC.
An ITV spokesperson has told MailOnline: ‘We would expect the KC to be able to ask to talk to anyone she considers relevant in order to conduct the review.’
In the letter, Dame McCall wrote that ITV takes the matter ‘extremely seriously and have reviewed our own records … [which] show that when rumours of a relationship between Phillip Schofield and an employee of ITV first began to circulate in late 2019/early 2020 ITV investigated.’
Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary may also be quizzed (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
This Morning regular Dr Ranj Singh addressed the ‘toxic’ atmosphere (Picture: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images)
‘Both parties were questioned then 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 the This Morning and wider Daytime team and were not provided with, and did not find any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour.’
In his statement admitting to lying about the affair, Schofield said he had also lied to his agency, apologising as he said he was ‘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.’
However, Dame McCall said, the network continued to question both men who ‘continued to deny the rumours including as recently as this month,’ adding there has been ‘a lot of inaccuracy in the reporting’ and wanted to ‘set out some facts.’
Schofield apologised for lying to his agency and to his employers (Picture: Karwai Tang/WireImage)
She went on to address the age of the younger man involved, saying he was 19 when he first undertook work experience at This Morning and 20 when he became involved full-time, and says he sought and was awarded a promotion to Loose Women in 2019, at which point he left This Morning.
The letter goes on to address other claims made in recent days of a ‘toxic’ nature on set, including by former This Morning regular Dr Singh, and said ITV was ‘sorry to read his statement.’
On Sunday, the show’s former resident doctor, Dr Singh took to Instagram to make claims of a ‘toxic culture’ and say that he was ‘managed out’ for raising his concerns ahead of his exit from the programme two years ago.
Eamonn and wife Ruth Langsford used to present Fridays’ This Morning (Picture: S Meddle/ITV/Shutterstock)
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Since then, GB News presenter Holmes has also made several claims in explosive interviews, including saying Schofield and his younger lover had ‘playtime Thursdays’, and blasting Willoughby and Schofield as hosts.
Schofield has yet to speak out on Holmes’ interview, but his lawyers previously told Metro.co.uk that he will not be commenting.
Shortly after Schofield’s confession, Willoughby shared her own statement on social media, saying she was ‘hurt’ to have been ‘lied’ to.
The pair have presented This Morning together for 13 years, winning National Television Awards in the process.
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She said, in full: ‘It’s taken time to process yesterday’s news. When reports of this relationship first surfaced, I asked Phil directly if this was true and was told it was not.
‘It’s been very hurtful to now find out that this was a lie. Holly.’
Metro.co.uk has approached ITV for comment.
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1.
Phillip Schofield statement in full
‘I am making this statement via the Daily Mail to whom I have already apologised personally for misleading, through my lawyer who I also misled, about a story which they wanted to write about me a few days ago.
‘The first thing I want to say is: I am deeply sorry for having lied to them, and to many others about a relationship that I had with someone working on This Morning. 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.
‘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. 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.
‘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 judgment in both participating in the relationship and then lying about it. To protect his privacy, I am not naming this individual and my deepest wish is that both he and his family can now move on with their lives free from further intrusion, and that this statement will enable them to do so.
‘I ask the media now to respect their privacy. They have done nothing wrong, and I ask that their privacy should be respected.’
So could Alison and Dermot.