Phillip Schofield has said he will comply with an external review commissioned by ITV into his affair.
The 61-year-old resigned from the channel last week and was dropped by his talent agency, YMU, after admitting having an “unwise, but not illegal” relationship with a younger male colleague.
At the time Phillip had not yet come out as gay and to this day is still married to his wife Stephanie, who reportedly thought the man was ‘just a friend’.
The veteran broadcaster later admitted lying to ITV colleagues, including Holly Willoughby, saying he did it to protect the man he had an affair with.
ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall has since written a letter to Parliament in which she revealed the company has now commissioned a barrister to carry out an external review.
The review will “establish the facts” surrounding Phillip’s controversial affair with a former This Morning colleague when he was in his 50s and the man was around 20 years old.
Dame Carolyn has also been called to give evidence to a parliamentary committee to answer questions about ITV’s approach to safeguarding and complaint-handling following Phillip’s admission.
Phillip was asked by the BBC ’s Amol Rajan in a sit-down interview on Friday who on his team knew about the relationship.
He replied: “Nobody, to my knowledge. I mean, somebody has to know something for there to be a rumour later on. I didn’t believe that anybody knew.”
He added: “This has been the cataclysm of the lie… it starts in a denial and then the rumours start and then you lie.
“You’ve had a workplace fling and you lie about it, and a great many people who have had a workplace fling have lied about it. And I fully appreciate there is a massive age gap, but that happens in life as well.”
The letter sent to Parliament said ITV records show that “when rumours of a relationship between Phillip Schofield and an employee of ITV first began to circulate in late 2019/early 2020 ITV investigated”.
But both parties “categorically and repeatedly denied the rumours”, as did Phillip’s then agency YMU.
Phillip confirmed he and his former lover were questioned by ITV, but claimed both of them lied about it.
Asked whether he spoke to anyone at the channel about moving the younger man on to another programme, Phillip strongly denied it.
He also denied helping the man further his career and then having a relationship with him was an ‘abuse of power’.
“Obviously that criticism has been levelled at me but I’ve never done that in my whole life, I’ve never abused my power anywhere. I’m not a bully,” he said.
Asked whether he will comply with the external review which ITV has commissioned into the situation, Phillip simply said: “Yeah.”
Dame Carolyn’s letter said ITV has instructed Jane Mulcahy KC, of Blackstone Chambers, to “review our records and talk to people involved”.
“This work will also consider our relevant processes and policies and whether we need to change or strengthen any,” it said.
The chairwoman of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee said the decision to question ITV executives in the wake of Phillip’s departure is “not a witch hunt”.
Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme why MPs are getting involved, Conservative MP Dame Caroline Dinenage said: “This is about the fundamental issues of safeguarding and complaint-handling that this incident has shone a light on.
“Our committee regards the duty of care towards staff, particularly when it comes to public service broadcasters, as a matter of very high importance. And there are a number of really significant issues that this case shines a light on.
“And not least of which is this potential abuse of power, the workplace culture. We know that these gods of broadcasting, if you like, have phenomenal power.”
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