‘It has brought the greatest misery into his totally innocent life
Phillip Schofield has said his ‘biggest apology’ for the fallout from his affair was directed to his much younger former lover, as he admits that old photos of them together ‘look shocking’.
Schofield broke his silence for the first time since admitting lying to ITV, his lawyers, his wife and co-star of 14 years about the ‘ill-advised, but not illegal’ relationship with his junior colleague, admitting he was ‘better should have known’.
Speaking of his former lover, the This Morning star said tonight: ‘It has brought the greatest misery to his totally innocent life, his totally innocent family, his totally innocent friends. It has caused them the greatest sorrow.
“I am very sorry and I apologize to him because I should have known better. I should have acted as I have always acted. I shouldn’t have.
‘I’m sorry. And I will be forever sorry. I’m dying sorry. I am so deeply hurt.’
Speaking for the first time since leaving This Morning, Phillip Schofield said his ‘biggest apology’ for the fallout from his affair was directed to his much younger former lover
Schofield, his former lover and Holly Willoughby sat together on the This Morning sofa
Schofield described himself as a “broken” man and denied allegations that he groomed the young man who got a job at This Morning after meeting the former host.
Tonight, Schofield admitted that old photos of the men together that surfaced online “looked shocking.”
He told The sun: ‘At the time I didn’t think it would ruin my career. I probably didn’t think of it until I saw the rumor mill growing.
“Then I saw the link to the drama school photo all those years before, and thought,
“This looks shocking.” But I didn’t lie to protect my career, he didn’t want his name in public. He wanted his own life.’
Schofield had met the young man when he was only 15 and still in drama school. He then asked the ex-presenter for a job, which led to a job as an ITV production assistant when he turned 18. Sometime after that, the affair began.
After the young man reportedly declared his love for Schofield at an awards ceremony in January 2020, he was then transferred to Loose Women, another of the network’s programmes, before eventually leaving the broadcaster.
Tonight, the former ITV veteran insisted to the newspaper that he was not ‘lying to protect his career’ but that his colleague ‘didn’t want his name in public’.
The affair, he said, began in 2017 after a “consensual moment” in his dressing room.
He shut down claims that the couple had a full-fledged relationship, claiming it wasn’t a love affair, it wasn’t a relationship, we weren’t boyfriends; we were buddies’.
In his first sit-down interview since leaving ITV earlier this month, he admitted to his wife, who he still hasn’t divorced despite splitting after coming out as gay in 2020.
Schofield leaves The Ivy Club with his much younger ex-lover (pictured left) in 2017
Schofield described himself as a “broken” man and denied allegations that he groomed the young man who got a job at This Morning after meeting the former host.
Schofield said his wife of 30 years, Stephanie Lowe, was “very angry” when he told her about the affair. Pictured: Schofield with his wife and two daughters, Molly and Ruby Lowe
He said his partner of 30 years, Stephanie Lowe, was “very, very angry” with him after he confessed to his affair with his former colleague.
The This Morning presenter of more than 20 years had denied his wife that he was having an affair when she previously questioned him about it.
He said, “She got off a plane and I called her up and texted her saying, ‘I need to talk to you.’ “She called back and I told her. She was very, very angry.’
The ex-presenter went on to dismiss allegations that he had groomed the young boy.
He said, ‘I didn’t, I didn’t take care of him.
“There are allegations of all sorts of things. It never came across that way because we had become buddies. I do not know.
“But of course I understand that there will be a huge judgment, but if you consider that I have not exercised that anywhere else.”
The BBC will also release an interview with Schofield being grilled by Amol Rajan.
In a trailer, the former presenter also told BBC News: “It was a totally innocent picture, a totally innocent Twitter follower, of which I follow 11,400 people, and then it was a completely innocent back and forth over a period of about a year. job, about careers.
‘What is wrong with that? What’s wrong with talking to someone regardless of age?
“Does that mean if you follow someone on Twitter, you absolutely don’t talk to anyone else or give advice?”
He added, “The brief communication back and forth to the point that he came to work on This Morning was just small talk I think.”
Schofield clarified why his statement last week said the affair was “unwise,” calling it a “very, very serious mistake.”
He added, “It was consensual, but it was my fault.”
Tonight’s revelations come as ITV’s under-fire doss, Dame Carolyn McCall, has been called up to appear before MPs to answer questions about how the station handles security and complaints.
Schofield’s confession has led a number of high-profile stars, including former This Morning presenter Eamonn Holmes and the programme’s former GP, Dr. Ranj Singh, have expressed concern about a ‘toxic’ working environment behind the scenes.
The Committee on Culture, Media and Sport has written to Dame Carolyn today asking her to attend Parliament on Wednesday 14 June at 10am.
It comes after she was forced down a humiliating climb yesterday by announcing the broadcaster would be bringing in a lawyer to ‘carry out an external assessment to establish the facts’ surrounding the chaos that has engulfed ITV since Schofield last week made his statement.