ITV has issued a statement after Phillip Schofield quit the channel.
The 61-year-old broadcaster stepped down from This Morning last weekend amid reports an alleged feud with Holly Willoughby reached fever pitch. Mr Schofield was set to continue his working relationship with the channel and was scheduled to host the British Soap Awards.
However, he issued a statement to the Daily Mail today to confirm he has quit the channel with immediate effect. He said: "I have therefore decided to step down from the British Soap Awards, my last public commitment, and am resigning from ITV with immediate effect expressing my immense gratitude to them for all the amazing opportunities that they have given me."
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ITV has now issued a statement in the aftermath of Mr Schofield's exit. An ITV spokesperson told our sister site, Mirror Online: "We are deeply disappointed by the admissions of deceit made tonight by Phillip Schofield. The relationships we have with those we work with are based on trust. Philip made assurances to us which he now acknowledges were untrue and we feel badly let down. "We accept his resignation from ITV and therefore can confirm that he will not be appearing on ITV as had previously been stated."
In the statement, Mr Schofield admitted to having an affair with a runner who worked on This Morning and apologised for lying to his colleagues about the relationship. He said: "I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning. Contrary to speculation, whilst I met the man when he was a teenager and was asked to help him to get into television, it was only after he started to work on the show that it became more than just a friendship. That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over.
"When I chose to come out I did so entirely for my own wellbeing. Nobody "forced" me out. Neither I nor anyone else, to my knowledge, has ever issued an injunction, super or otherwise, about my relationship with this colleague, he was never moved on or sacked by or because of me.
"In an effort to protect my ex-colleague I haven't been truthful about the relationship. But my recent, unrelated, departure from This Morning fuelled speculation and raised questions which have been impacting him, so for his sake it is important for me to be honest now.
"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." .
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