Holly Willoughby says Phillip Schofield ‘straight’ lied to her over affair with youthful colleague

Holly Willoughby has mentioned Phillip Schofield lied to her about his affair with a a lot youthful male colleague.

Speaking for the primary time since Schofield admitted having an “unwise, but not illegal” affair, his former This Morning co-presenter wrote on Instagram: “It has taken time to course of 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 discover out that this was a lie.”

On Friday, the veteran broadcaster give up ITV and admitted to having an affair with a colleague who labored on This Morning. Rumours of the connection had first begun to flow into in 2020.

ITV mentioned it had investigated – however each Schofield and the worker “repeatedly denied” the affair.

The broadcaster was compelled to challenge the assertion after questions had been raised over what network bosses knew about Schofield’s conduct.

Fellow former This Morning presenter Eamonn Holmes had mentioned Schofield was “not the only guilty party” and claimed high administration “knew what sort of man he was”.

Questions had additionally been raised about what his co-host, Ms Willoughby knew, one thing she has now hit again at together with her assertion.

What ITV mentioned

In response to mounting strain on the broadcaster, an ITV spokesperson mentioned: “Further to our statement last night, ITV can confirm that when rumours of a relationship between Phillip Schofield and an employee of ITV first began to circulate in early 2020 ITV investigated.

“Both events had been questioned and each categorically and repeatedly denied the rumours as did Phillip’s then company YMU.

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“In addition, ITV spoke to a number of people who worked on This Morning and were not provided with, and did not find, any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour.

“Phillip’s assertion yesterday reveals that he lied to individuals at ITV, from senior administration to fellow presenters, to YMU, to the media and to others over this relationship.”

Schofield ‘deeply sorry’ for lying

In a statement on Friday, Schofield said he was “deeply sorry” for lying about the relationship.

It is understood the younger colleague, who is not a public figure, did not want the relationship to be made public.

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 “primarily based fully on belief”.

They have since parted methods with Schofield.