We have our Monday This Morning hosts… (Picture: REX)
ITV has confirmed the hosts of tomorrow’s This Morning following Phillip Schofield’s affair confession and subsequent resignation from the channel.
The 61-year-old broadcaster issued a tell-all statement on Friday (May 26), confessing to an affair with a much younger male colleague after years of speculation.
He apologised for lying to his wife of 30 years, as well as ITV bosses.
As a result, Phil was dropped by his talent agency of 35 years and stepped down from hosting next week’s British Soap Awards, which would’ve been his last public commitment.
This Morning’s future has been uncertain over the weekend, with calls for it to be axed completely.
However, ITV confirmed to Metro.co.uk that the daytime programme is not under review and will be back next week.
Phillip Schofield has resigned from ITV and Holly Willoughby is currently on an early half-term break (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
A spokesperson has now informed us that Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary – who usually host on Fridays – will be presenting tomorrow’s show.
Alison and Dermot previously took over hosting duties after Phil resigned from This Morning last week.
Craig Doyle also joined Alison mid-week, with the pair interviewing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak together.
His initial departure from the show came amid rumours of a ‘fallout’ with co-presenter of 14 years, Holly Willoughby.
Holly, 42, then took an early half-term break and is set to return to the sofa on June 5.
In the first show back after Phil’s exit, Alison and Dermot spoke about his career with a very short tribute.
At the start of Monday’s episode, Alison began: ‘Now, we can’t start today’s show without paying tribute to the man who spent the last two decades sitting on the This Morning sofa, Phillip Schofield.’
Holly and Phil co-hosted the daytime programme for 13 years before an alleged ‘fallout’ (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Holly has denied covering up Phil’s affair with the much younger male colleague (Picture: Instagram)
Co-host Dermot continued: ‘So, as a show, everyone on and off screen at ITV, and This Morning, want to say a huge thank you to Phil for what he’s done to make this show such a success over the last 21 years.’
Alison hailed him as ‘one of the best’, adding: ‘Quite simply, we all know he’s one of the best live television broadcasters this country has ever had. And we and all the team wish him all the best for the future.’
Addressing the next couple of weeks, Dermot said: ‘Holly’s now taking a break over half-term. She’ll be back in the studio in two weeks on Monday the 5th of June.’
There’s no denying that the fallout of Phil’s shock admission has left people with questions, with many speculating whether Holly will return to the show at all or if the award-winning programme has a future.
Alison Hammond was joined by Craig Doyle last week (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
Finally breaking her silence, she shared a statement to her Instagram Story yesterday (May 27).
Holly stated that she quizzed Phil on his relationship with the co-worker before, but he denied it, after allegations that she was part of a ‘cover-up.’
More: Trending
She wrote, 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.’
It remains to be seen who will host This Morning with Holly, as viewers also await confirmation of the rest of the week’s presenters.
An announcement is also imminent on the new Soap Awards host.
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.’
The show will be back.
