Phillip Schofield 's once-coveted career is now in tatters after he admitted having an affair with a much-younger colleague on This Morning.
The TV stalwart, 61, denied there ever been a relationship with the unnamed production assistant when rumours first started to surface.
ITV even conducted its own investigation, and stated that both parties "categorically and repeatedly denied the rumours".
But it has now been reported that things changed after a glitzy awards ceremony.
The Mail On Sunday reports that the man let slip about his romance with Phil, declaring his adoration for the much older presenter at the start of 2020 - the same year Phillip came out as gay on national TV.
According to the Mail: "At one particular event, an awards ceremony, Schofield's friend stunned his ITV colleagues by, as one put it, 'declaring his love for Phil in no uncertain terms.'"
Phillip said in his announcement on Friday night that he is "deeply sorry" about the secret affair, adding: "That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over."
"I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning," he said.
"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."
ITV released a statement on Saturday insisting they had investigated Phil over the same allegations in 2020 but he denied the affair.
A spokesperson for ITV told the Mirror the broadcaster was, "not provided with, and did not find, any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour," when it looked into the matter in 2020.
"ITV can confirm that when rumours of a relationship between Phillip Schofield and an employee of ITV first began to circulate in early 2020 ITV investigated," the statement read.
"Both parties were questioned and both categorically and repeatedly denied the rumours as did Phillip's then agency YMU.
"In addition, ITV spoke to a number of people who worked on This Morning and were not provided with, and did not find, any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour.
"Phillip's statement yesterday reveals that he lied to people at ITV, from senior management to fellow presenters, to YMU, to the media and to others over this relationship."
The ITV employee is said to have been moved to Loose Women from This Morning after Phil and the employee's relationship "turned sour", leaving the stars "livid".
ITV and Schofield have always insisted the move was a promotion.
But one of the show's stars is said to have made a formal complaint about the situation.
It was also claimed by the Mail Online 's Dan Wootton: "I spoke to a number of the Loose Women presenters personally who were livid and worried that they were having to deal with the very real fallout of Phillip's mixed up professional and personal life.
"At least one of the stars had made a formal complaint to management.
"Another told me: 'We shouldn't be having to deal with Phillip's messed up situation. We love (the young worker) but he's very troubled now. What if he can't cope?'"
However, a spokesperson for ITV denied claims of a complaint other than one by Ruth when Phillip spoke over her during a link.
"Ruth Langsford's complaint referred to Phillip cutting her off - not anything else," the rep said.
Phillip, however, denied the claims in his bombshell statement, confirming: "He was never moved on or sacked by or because of me."
The pair reportedly met when the man was 15 and Phillip visited his theatre school.
Phillip is then said to have helped the teen land a job in TV when he turned 18, with a coveted role as a This Morning runner.
A romantic relationship then developed between the pair sometime after, when the runner was an adult.
After years of lies and cover-ups, with Phil admitting lying to the ITV team - including best friend and co-presenter Holly Willoughby - his extra-marital affair finally came to light when he shared all in a sensational statement on Friday.
"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," he said. "I am so very, very sorry, as I am for having been unfaithful to my wife.
Phillip is said to have been 'forced' to confirm the allegations he has dodged for years because his ex unexpectedly confessed all to the swish lawyers he hired for him.
Schofield reportedly hired top law firm Mishcon de Reya to represent his former partner, who then told his new legal team that he was sick of lying about the relationship.
The move apparently prompted Schofield to come clean to his management company of 35 years, before going public with his statement.
