Phillip Schofield and Stephanie Lowe won’t be divorcing (Picture: JMEnternational/Getty Images)
The scandal around Phillip Schofield and his admitted affair with a younger staff member shocked This Morning viewers and the entire nation.
Half a year has passed and many have been looking to his wife, Stephanie Lowe,to see what she will do next, following the assumed collapse of their marriage.
When the news broke, the 61-year-old confessed that his wife of almost 30 years was ‘very, very angry’ with him over the affair which he called ‘unwise’ but ‘not illegal’.
Stephanie, who shares two daughters with the presenter, had believed his dismissals of rumours and was said to be ‘devastated’ when she was told.
However, she has still not filed for a legal divorce from her estranged husband as a source claims there is ‘still love’ between the two.
‘Whatever Phillip has done behind Steph’s back, she still loves him,’ an insider told OK!
She reportedly ‘still loves him’ after everything(Picture: David Fisher/Shutterstock)
They continued: ‘Even if the love they shared in the beginning of their marriage is different to what it is now, the love is still very much there.’
After stepping down from This Morning, Schofield admitted that he lied about having an affair, outlining in his statement: ‘I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning.
‘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.’
The former Dancing on Ice presenter had actually separated from Stephanie in 2020 when he first came out as gay but continued to wear his wedding ring.
The pair had been married for nearly 30 years (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)
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.’
At the time they said they would remain married until they were both able to move on, although this seems to have been thrown into turmoil in the wake of the scandal.
Since the very public fall from grace, Schofield has kept out of the spotlight bar some walks with his mum in the park and appearing in a handful of interviews during the initial fallout.
During one of these interviews, he thanked his wife for being ‘incredibly supportive’ and has also said his daughters – Ruby, 30, and Molly, 27 – had been by his side.
The source continued: ‘Steph is, and always will be, Phillip’s support system. She hasn’t divorced him because she doesn’t want to see him fall any further.’
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This is devastating.