Phillip Schofield has admitted to lying to his wife Stephanie Lowe, agent and TV viewers over an affair he had with a younger ITV employee.
The beleaguered telly host departed This Morning "with immediate effect" after 21 years on the programme and has been dropped by his talent agency, YMU, after the affair came to light. Schofield has since said the relationship was "unwise, but not illegal".
However, in a statement shared with the Daily Mail and reported by the Mirror, the 61-year-old – who came out as gay on TV in February 2020 – admitted he had kept it from everyone he knew. He has now stepped away from ITV altogether.
His statement read: "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."
He stated that the relationship had begun as a "consensual on-off" one that became "more than a friendship" as he worked at This Morning. He married Stephanie in 1993 and separated in 2020, with him moving out of their family home.
His former agency, YMU, released a statement about parting ways with the TV presenter on Friday, a day after dropping him. It said it had learned new information that "contradicted" statements made by the star in the past.
The statement said: "Honesty and integrity are core values for YMU's whole business, defining everything we do. Talent management is a relationship based entirely on trust.
"This week, we have learned important new information about our client Phillip Schofield. These facts contradicted what Phillip had previously told YMU, as well as the external advisors we had brought in to support him.
"As a result, on Thursday we agreed to part company with Phillip, with immediate effect."
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