For more than a decade, Phillip Schofield had been one half of the golden couple of daytime TV.
He had won numerous National Television awards for his part fronting ITV’s flagship mid-morning programme This Morning. It was as if Holly and Phil could do no wrong as they swept all before them.
But after a turbulent eight months, in which Schofield and Willoughby were heavily criticised for appearing to jump the queue to see the Queen lying in state, Schofield has now left This Morning and ITV altogether, and admitted to lying about an affair with a “much younger” member of staff on the show.
It brings to an end a highly successful partnership, which began when they fronted ITV’s Dancing on Ice, and his career is in tatters.
The rumours of Schofield’s affair were first reported by acidic gossip columnist Dan Wootton in late 2019. Wootton, who has risen to become an anti-woke shock jock on GB News, had appeared on other ITV shows as a celebrity pundit.
In an article for the Sun, Wootton reported that a staff member who had worked with Schofield and on This Morning had left to join its subsequent programme, Loose Women, “despite a previous close friendship with [Schofield]” – a nod towards the affair which Schofield has confirmed.
Schofield’s co-host was at his side on the This Morning sofa when he told viewers that he was gay. Sat next to them were the usual Friday hosts, husband and wife Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford. “We’ll be the first to stand beside you,” Holmes told Schofield.
However, nearly three years on and after the 61-year-old had admitted lying, Holmes said they had been “deceived”.
“What transpired took us for fools. The man told us complete lies and we unfortunately believed him,” he tweeted.
He was not the only one, it appeared. Wootton, who tweeted “saluting” Schofield after he came out on the ITV show, now claims the presenter’s behaviour was “the reason [Wootton] left ITV”.
Holmes and Wootton have called for ITV bosses to come clean about what they knew. The show’s editor, Martin Frizell, ITV chief executive Carolyn McCall and the broadcaster’s director of TV, Kevin Lygo, have all been in the firing line about whether they covered up the relationship.
Holmes, who now hosts GB News’ breakfast show after departing This Morning with Langsford in August 2021, tweeted: “4 high members of ITV management knew what sort of man he was …and NEVER once took action to prevent him controlling or taking advantage of his position over young people.”
In a statement on Saturday, an ITV spokesperson said the broadcaster had investigated rumours in early 2020 but “did not find any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumours”.
Schofield admitted he had deceived ITV bosses in his statement: “I am painfully conscious that I have lied to my employers at ITV, to my colleagues and friends, to my agents, to the media and therefore the public and most importantly of all to my family. I am so very, very sorry, as I am for having been unfaithful to my wife.”
Reports had painted This Morning as Schofield’s personal fiefdom. He is credited for bringing Willoughby to the show in 2009, and also faced accusations from Amanda Holden that he had put a stop to her covering for his usual co-host.
The closeness of Holly and Phil was one of the duo’s key selling points. However, reports in 2020 said that they had fallen out. They intensified after the pair were heavily criticised for reportedly “skipping the queue” to see the Queen lying in state in September last year.
The situation was exacerbated earlier this month when Schofield’s brother, Tim, was jailed for 12 years for sexually abusing a boy. It was claimed that the TV presenter had kept Willoughby “in the dark” about the charges.
As the headlines spilled over from gossip mags – who frequently speculate about goings on behind-the-scenes of morning TV – to broadsheets, momentum pointed to Schofield or Willoughby’s departure.
On 20 May it was announced that Schofield would leave the show “with immediate effect” amid reports of the growing feud. A week later he has now left ITV altogether, dropping his planned hosting of the British Soap Awards in the process.
The talent agency YMU, which had represented Schofield, ended its relationship “with immediate effect” on Thursday.
A replacement for Schofield has not been announced. Friday’s show was fronted by Dermot O’Leary and Birmingham-born Alison Hammond, who is favourite to step into Schofield’s shoes full-time.
This Morning has rarely faced competitors in a similar slot on BBC or Channel 4 in recognition of the show’s dominance, watched by students, stay-at-home parents and retirees alike. However, it is unclear how the show will fit into the broadcaster’s long-term strategy.
It released its ITVX service in December last year, which offers a subscription service and exclusively premiers shows on the platform before they are aired on linear TV.
As viewing habits change and figures fall across the board for linear TV, the turbulence around Schofield’s departure could have a major effect on the show’s long-term future.
