‘Damaged and ashamed’ Phillip Schofield says he didn’t groom youthful colleague

Phillip Schofield has stated he feels “utterly broken and ashamed” following a scandal over an affair with a youthful male colleague – however insisted he didn’t groom him.

Schofield, 61, resigned from ITV last week and was dropped by his expertise company YMU after admitting to an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a youthful male colleague.

In an interview with The Sun, he insisted he “did not” groom the person, as he advised the paper he’ll “die sorry” and stated his “greatest apology” over the fallout from the affair was to his former lover.

The interview comes after ITV introduced it had launched an external review to determine the information across the relationship between presenter Schofield and his This Morning colleague.

Schofield advised the paper: “I did not, I did not (groom him)”.

He additionally stated that his “greatest apology” was to his former lover, who has been introduced the “greatest misery into his totally innocent life”.

He added: “I am deeply sorry and I apologise to him because I should have known better…I will die sorry. I am so deeply mortified.”

The affair passed off earlier than Schofield publicly got here out as homosexual, and whereas he was nonetheless married to his spouse Stephanie Lowe.

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Schofield, who married his spouse Stephanie in 1993, got here out as homosexual on This Morning in 2020.

Wife was ‘very, very indignant’

He advised the paper his spouse was “very, very angry” after he confessed to her about his affair with a youthful ITV colleague and stated he had beforehand denied rumours in regards to the affair to her when she had requested.

He stated: “She got off a plane and I phoned her up and texted saying, ‘I need to talk to you’.

“She referred to as again and I advised her. She was very, very indignant.”

His exit from This Morning got here after weeks of rumours of a rift between him and his co-presenter Holly Willoughby.

Willoughby stated Schofield lied to her about his affair with a a lot youthful male colleague and stated it was “very hurtful”. Rumours of the connection had first begun to flow into in 2020.

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

In a separate interview with BBC News, Schofield stated his interactions with the youthful male earlier than he joined This Morning have been “completely innocent”.

He advised BBC News: “It was a totally innocent picture, a totally innocent Twitter follow, of which I follow 11,400 people, and then it was a completely innocent backwards and forwards over a period of time about a job, about careers”.

He added: “The brief communications backwards and forwards up to the point that he came to work on This Morning I think was just chat.

“What was unwise was the truth that it occurred. And that was a really, very grave error, it was consensual, however it was my fault.”