Phillip Schofield and the This Morning affair: A timeline of occasions
P
hillip Schofield’s fall from grace has been swift. The veteran TV star, who admitted to an affair with a a lot youthful male colleague whereas nonetheless married to his spouse, has misplaced his high-profile job on This Morning, his profitable contract with ITV and his expertise illustration.
Here is a timeline of how occasions unfolded:
February 2020: Schofield comes out as homosexual after practically 27 years of marriage to spouse Stephanie, in an emotional on-air chat with co-host and long-time buddy Holly Willoughby. The pair embrace on the couch.
September 2022: The co-hosts face criticism over claims they skipped the queue for Queen Elizabeth II’s mendacity in state whereas attending as members of the media to movie a section for This Morning.
April 17 2023: The first trace one thing is perhaps incorrect comes within the first present after the Easter break. Schofield and Willoughby ought to each be on the couch after he took depart whereas his brother Timothy was on trial for baby intercourse offences. While Schofield is again within the studio, Willoughby is absent, saying she has shingles.
May 10: The Sun stories the pair are “barely speaking”.
May 11: Schofield calls Holly “his rock” and says they’re “the best of friends”.
May 15: The pair placed on a united entrance on This Morning and make no reference to tales within the press about their relationship.
May 18: Schofield presents what’s going to transform his final episode of This Morning.
May 20: Schofield steps down from This Morning with speedy impact. ITV says he’ll proceed to current “peak time shows”, together with The British Soap Awards and a brand new prime-time collection. Willoughby releases a press release saying the couch “won’t feel the same without him”.
May 21: It is introduced that Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond will host the present on Monday May 22, as Willoughby takes early half-term depart. It is introduced she is going to return to internet hosting duties on June 5.
May 22: O’Leary and Hammond host the present and hail Schofield as “one of the best live television broadcasters this country has ever had”.
May 26: Schofield admits to an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a a lot youthful male colleague and resigns from ITV. He confirms the connection started whereas he was nonetheless together with his spouse and says he is not going to be internet hosting the British Soap Awards, his final public dedication. He apologises for mendacity concerning the relationship. He is dropped by his expertise company YMU.
May 27: Willoughby accuses Schofield of mendacity to her concerning the affair, saying his admission is “very hurtful”. ITV says the broadcaster was “not provided with, and did not find, any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour” when it appeared into the matter in 2020.
May 28: Former This Morning resident physician Dr Ranj Singh says the present is “toxic”, including he raised issues about “bullying and discrimination” two years in the past when he labored there and afterwards felt like he was “managed out” for whistleblowing. ITV responds by saying an exterior and impartial adviser was appointed to hold out a evaluate after the criticism, which discovered “no evidence of bullying or discrimination”.
May 29: Schofield releases a press release denying “toxicity” at This Morning and says “it’s the same handful of people with a grudge against me or the show who seem to have the loudest voice”. Former This Morning presenter Eamonn Holmes alleges there was a “total cover-up” at ITV over the affair and, in an interview on GB News, says Willoughby ought to comply with Schofield “out the door”.
May 31: In a letter, seen by the PA news company, ITV’s chief govt Dame Carolyn McCall says the broadcaster has instructed a barrister to conduct an exterior evaluate of the way it has dealt with Schofield’s affair. She provides that Jane Mulcahy KC, of Blackstone Chambers, will “carry out an external review to establish the facts”.
June 1: Dame Carolyn has been referred to as to offer proof to a parliamentary committee on June 14 to reply questions concerning the broadcaster’s strategy to safeguarding and criticism dealing with after the departure of Schofield.
The Sun publishes an interview with Schofield by which he says he’s sorry to Willoughby however owes his “greatest apology” to his former lover. He reiterates that he didn’t “groom” the person, and that though his spouse was “very, very angry” concerning the affair, his daughters have been “guarding” him through the fallout.
June 2: The BBC airs its personal interview with Schofield, carried out by media editor Amol Rajan. Schofield says he has “lost everything” and the affair has had a “catastrophic effect” on his thoughts. Speaking concerning the criticism he has confronted he says he can see “nothing ahead” besides “blackness and sadness” and now speaks about his profession in tv “in the past tense”. Schofield additionally urges the media to depart the youthful man alone.