Holly Willoughby has said she felt “shaken, troubled and let down” over Phillip Schofield’s behaviour as she made her first This Morning appearance since her co-host left the show.
Schofield quit after admitting he lied about an “unwise, but not illegal” affair with a younger member of the show’s staff.
Addressing the issue publicly for the first time on Monday, Willoughby said: “You, me, and all of us at This Morning gave our love and support to someone who was not telling the truth, who acted in a way that they themselves felt that they had to resign from ITV, and step down from a career that they loved. That is a lot to process.
“And it’s equally hard to see the toll that it’s taken on their own mental health. I think what unites us all now is a desire to heal for the health and wellbeing of everyone.”
Willoughby spoke as she opened ITV’s flagship programme. While Schofield left more than a fortnight ago, Monday’s edition was her first after a holiday.
Schofield, 61, last week said he was “utterly broken” and felt “embarrassed and ashamed” about his affair – but denied grooming the man.
In his first interview after leaving the broadcaster, Schofield told the Sun his daughters had been “guarding” him, adding: “If it hadn’t been for my girls last week I wouldn’t be here.”
He met his former lover when the man was a 15-year-old boy at drama school but said the affair did not begin until he was much older and had been working at ITV. Schofield was married at the time.
Schofield later told the BBC he was aware his career in television was over, and that he blamed himself for his downfall by lying about the affair.
He said: “I have brought myself down. I am done. I have to talk about television in the past tense, which breaks my heart.”
He said that if his daughters had not supported him last week, he “wouldn’t be here”. “They’ve guarded me and won’t let me out of their sight,” he said.
But he felt moved to put himself through interviews “because there is an innocent person here who didn’t do anything wrong”.
He added: “I just have to say, ‘stop with him. OK with me. But stop with him, leave him alone now.’”
Concerns have been expressed for the wellbeing of those at the centre of the story. Speaking on Monday’s programme, Willoughby said it felt “very strange indeed sitting here without Phil”.
Addressing the viewer directly, she said: “I imagine that you might have been feeling a lot like I have: shaken, troubled, let down, worried for the wellbeing of people on all sides of what’s been going on, and full of questions.”
She added: “I hope that, as we start this new chapter and get back to a place of warmth, and magic that this show holds for all of us, we can find strength in each other. And, from my heart, can I just say thank you for all of your kind messages and thank you for being here this morning.”
This Morning’s former resident doctor Dr Ranj Singh and its former presenter Eamonn Holmes have both separately made allegations about the culture behind the scenes at the programme in the wake of Schofield’s departure.
ITV’s chief executive, Carolyn McCall, has been called to a parliamentary committee on 14 June to answer questions about the broadcaster’s approach to safeguarding and complaint handling following Schofield’s exit. The broadcaster has instructed barrister Jane Mulcahy KC of Blackstone Chambers to carry out an external review of the facts surrounding the departure.
