Phillip Schofield offered a grovelling apology after his affair was revealed (Picture: ITV)
Phillip Schofield has issued his ‘greatest apology’ to the much younger colleague he had an affair with, insisting that he will ‘die sorry’.
The 61-year-old sensationally admitted to a romantic relationship with the unnamed man last week, describing their romance as ‘unwise but not illegal’.
The former This Morning host also announced his departure from ITV after confessing that he lied about the nature of their bond, and was dropped by his talent agency, YMU, after 35 years.
In a bombshell new interview with the Sun, he has vowed that he didn’t ‘groom’ his colleague – who he met as a teenager – but has ‘guilt’ over how things transpired.
‘I have massive guilt, and regret. I’ve made a mistake, I’ve had an affair at work,’ he told the outlet. ‘I think my greatest apology must go to him. It has brought the greatest misery into his totally innocent life, his totally innocent family, his totally innocent friends.
‘It has brought the greatest grief to them.’
The host departed ITV last week after confirming the news (Picture: Shutterstock)
Schofield declared that he hasn’t spoken to the colleague since his statement dropped, but did pay for lawyers to ‘independently work on his behalf’.
‘I am deeply sorry and I apologise to him because I should have known better. I should have acted the way I have always acted. I should not have done it,’ he added.
‘I’m sorry. And I will forever be sorry. I will die sorry. I am so deeply mortified.’
On Friday, he confessed to the affair in a shock statement, explaining that he had lied to his bosses, friends and loved ones over the nature of the relationship.
He revealed that his wife, Stephanie Lowe, was ‘very, very angry’ (Picture: Getty)
‘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,’ he said in the lengthy statement.
‘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 apologised for lying to his closest colleagues – including Holly Willoughby (Picture: ITV)
‘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.’
ITV bosses have since instructed a barrister to conduct an external review of the facts surrounding Schofield’s exit from This Morning.
The affair took place while he was still married to wife Stephanie Lowe, who he shares daughters Ruby and Molly with – and before he came out as gay in 2020.
The TV host insisted that he will ‘die sorry’ (Picture: WireImage)
He confessed that he initially lied to Lowe about their romance and denied all the speculation, before finally coming clean – something that left her ‘very, very angry’.
Schofield has said that their relationship began in 2017 after a ‘consensual moment’ in his dressing room, and that he was struggling with his sexuality at the time.
He believes that they were together ‘maybe five or six times’, and added to BBC News: ‘What was unwise was the fact that it happened. And that was a very, very grave error, it was consensual, but it was my fault.’
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.’
‘It has brought the greatest grief to them.’