Phillip Schofield 'took us for fools', says Eamonn Holmes, as ITV bosses face questions
Veteran broadcaster Schofield is accused of telling "complete lies" after admitting to a relationship with a much younger male ITV employee while still married, which he described as "unwise, but not illegal".
Sunday 28 May 2023 07:44, UK
Fellow former This Morning presenter Eamonn Holmes has said he and his wife were "taken for fools" by Phillip Schofield.
The 63-year-old said Schofield had told them "complete lies and we unfortunately believed him".
Holmes spoke out after veteran broadcaster Schofield admitted having an "unwise, but not illegal" affair with a much younger male ITV employee while he was still married.
He also quit all his projects with the broadcaster on Friday.
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Schofield's confession to the relationship, and that he had lied about it, came in a statement published in the Daily Mail shortly before his agents also revealed they were parting company with him with immediate effect.
ITV said on Friday it was "deeply disappointed" by the "admissions of deceit" made by Schofield.
Writing on Twitter, Holmes questioned the broadcaster. He said: "Schofield has finally been caught out... But he's not the only guilty party. 4 high members of ITV management knew what sort of man he was."
ITV has since published a statement saying it did investigate rumours of the relationship but Schofield and the younger man "repeatedly denied" it.
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In another post, Holmes referred to how Schofield apparently lied to him and his wife, presenter Ruth Langsford.
He added: "Ruth and I deceived and lied to. One day I will tell the story. We had no issue with him being gay, only support.
"What transpired took us for fools. The man told us complete lies and we unfortunately believed him."
Separately, BBC presenter and former ITV newscaster Andrea Catherwood tweeted: "A lot more questions about who knew what when at ITV to be answered after this…"
'It is now over'
Former This Morning star Schofield, 61, left the daytime show last week.
In a statement on Friday, Schofield said he was "deeply sorry" for lying about the relationship.
He said: "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."
It is understood the younger colleague, who is not a public figure, did not want the relationship to be made public.
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Statements from presenter and his agents in full
The affair took place before Mr Schofield publicly came out as gay in 2020, and while he was still married to his wife Stephanie Lowe.
In a damning statement, his former agents YMU Group said "honesty and integrity" were core values of their business and that their relationships are "based entirely on trust".
Schofield's exit from This Morning came after weeks of rumours of a rift between him and his co-presenter Holly Willoughby.
Reports of behind-the-scenes problems between the pair surfaced after his brother Tim Schofield was convicted of child sex offences.