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Piers Morgan is back on Uncensored – and there’s only one thing he wants to talk about.
Like much of the nation, the controversial broadcaster has been gripped by recent events surrounding ITV and This Morning, what with Phillip Schofield’s affair scandal and resignation.
It’s been just over a week since Schofield, 61, admitted to lying about an affair with a much younger male colleague on the show, which happened while he was married and before coming out as gay in 2020.
Schofield stepped down from all ITV hosting duties with ‘immediate effect’ after apologising for deceiving his bosses and colleagues when asked if he was romantically involved with the runner.
The former daytime star kept a low profile, but then gave two bombshell interviews with The Sun and the BBC, explaining his version of the story and how the fallout has impacted his mental health.
Schofield stated that he ‘wouldn’t be here’ if it wasn’t for his daughters, also claiming to feel as low as Caroline Flack did before she took her own life at the age of 40.
Piers Morgan is back, everyone (Picture: TalkTV)
Morgan has referenced the scandal a few times on Twitter, but seems to have been holding his tongue in preparation for getting back on our screens.
And he didn’t hold back, jumping to the defence of Schofield.
Speaking on Uncensored on Monday night (June 5), the former Good Morning Britain presenter, 58, was full of sympathy for how Schofield has been feeling.
‘It reached a crescendo. After Schofield gave his interview, I looked at him… I’ve known him a long time, 35 years. I wrote a biography of Phillip Schofield, literally in the nineties, and I looked at the guy and I thought, you are completely broken,’ he said.
‘When someone is in that condition, even though I felt that his comparison to Caroline Flack was clumsy and he probably shouldn’t have said that, he probably meant it.
‘He probably did genuinely feel like, “What’s left? I may as well kill myself”.’
Phillip Schofield resigned from ITV after lying about an affair with a much younger colleague (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
He later said the fallout has left him suicidal (Picture: BBC)
Morgan also made strong claims about ITV.
‘One thing I know for sure, a lot of people at ITV knew about the rumours of the relationship. I mean everybody knew at ITV,’ he said.
‘Let’s be crystal clear, that building was a buzz with this for about three years because three years ago, at the National TV Awards, in the ITV box, the young man concerned in this story confessed his undying love for Phillip Schofield. Everybody knew that.’
Mockingly sticking his fingers in his ears, he added: ‘This idea that the whole of management is going, “We didn’t know anything about it!”, I mean, come on!
‘That I know is not true.’
He proceeded to talk about his own departure from GMB, with Dame Carolyn McCall also the head of ITV at the time.
Morgan claims he was told to apologise for not believing Meghan Markle, or he had to resign, and he chose to do the latter.
Morgan claims ‘everyone knew’ at ITV about the relationship (Picture: David Fisher/Shutterstock)
Miffed at the way his exit was handled, he said: ‘After 15 years, I didn’t even get a thank you. At least Schofield got a 30-second message from Dermot O’Leary on the Monday, thanking him. I got nothing!’
Hitting out once more, he said: ‘My experience with ITV management is that, when it suits them, they’ll lie through their back teeth.
‘Secondly, the way they handle talent is morally schizophrenic. Depending who you are, and how important they think you are to the firm at any given moment, or how important your agency is, they look at all those things and make moral judgements based on that kind of stuff. That’s where they lose me. It’s not consistent.’
ITV has always denied having any knowledge of Phillip Schofield’s affair.
After his initial admission, they said they felt ‘badly let down’ by the fact that he lied.
Later, they claimed to have investigated rumours of an affair between Schofield and the young runner in 2020, but found no supporting evidence.
The controversial broadcaster blasted ITV exec Dame Carolyn McCall (Picture: Anthony Harvey/REX/Shutterstock)
ITV says there was no supporting evidence of an affair when they first investigated rumours in 2020 (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
Although, the runner – who no longer works for ITV, having left a couple of years ago – did deny that he was ever questioned.
Schofield also said there was no ‘formal’ investigation, and that he would always deny the relationship if quizzed by anyone.
Meanwhile, a proper investigation is now underway into claims of ‘toxicity’ at ITV and the circumstances surrounding Schofield’s exit.
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This Morning editor Martin Frizell has confirmed the findings of the investigation will be made public.
Later this month, executive Dame Carolyn will also be questioned by MPs.
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