Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby are removed from This Morning’s social media
Fans of This Morning have noticed that Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby are missing from the ITV daytime show’s social media pages.
On Twitter, This Morning previously had a banner image at the top of the page showing Schofield and Willoughby and Friday presenters Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary.
But now the page displays a generic background image that matches This Morning’s profile picture in turquoise and gold.
None of the presenters feature on the current banner, adding to previous speculation about who will present This Morning in the future.
This change of banner follows Schofield’s departure from ITV and after he admitted to lying about an ‘ill-advised’ affair with a younger male colleague.
LAST WEEK: On Twitter, This Morning previously had a banner image at the top of the page featuring Schofield and Willoughby and Friday presenters Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary
TODAY: But now the page displays a generic background image that matches This Morning’s profile picture in turquoise and gold
Yesterday, former This Morning star Dr. Ranj the ‘toxic’ culture on the ITV daytime show.
The TV doctor, who left the show last year, claimed he was ‘taken out’ after taking his concerns to ‘the top’ of ITV, raising further questions for bosses about whether they knew and when.
Dr. Ranj – who is now the resident doctor on the BBC’s Morning Live – said he had thought ‘long and hard’ before addressing the scandal currently engulfing ITV, but decided to speak out ‘in light of recent events’.
But the channel has denied its bombshell allegations, as calls for an independent inquiry into a 2020 top ITV buyer’s inquiry into Phillip Schofield’s affair with his secret lover grew.
ITV confirmed they had investigated rumors about the relationship, which first started circulating in 2020, but that Schofield and the young man had “repeatedly denied” the affair. But the call for an inquiry into ITV’s investigation into the relationship continues to grow.
On Saturday, broadcaster Dan Wooton revealed he had told ITV about Phillip Schofield’s affair with his young colleague in 2019 and urged them to investigate, but they dismissed it as ‘malicious gossip’.
In his exclusive Mail article, Wooton also revealed that ITV staff had made complaints about Schofield’s behaviour.
The change of banner follows Schofield’s departure from ITV and after he admitted to having an ‘ill-advised’ affair with a younger male colleague (pictured: Phillip Schofield with younger colleague who became his lover and left The Ivy Club, London, in 2017)
Yesterday, former This Morning star Dr. Ranj the ‘toxic’ culture on the ITV daytime show (Photo: Dr Ranj in conversation with Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby in 2019)
ITV confirmed they had investigated rumors about the relationship, which first started circulating in 2020, but that Schofield and the young man had “repeatedly denied” the affair. But the call for an inquiry into ITV’s investigation into the relationship continues to grow
The former culture secretary also accused Schofield of ‘bullying’ colleagues and abusing ‘authority, power and trust’ after confessing to having an affair with the younger colleague and covering it up with lies.
The 61-year-old presenter quit ITV on Friday after admitting to the Mail that he had lied about an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a much younger man.
He also apologized to his wife of nearly 30 years, Stephanie Lowe, who stood by him after coming out as gay in 2020.
Ms Dorries said Schofield’s co-host of 13 years Willoughby ‘has questions to answer’.
Yesterday, Nadine Dorries put pressure on Willoughby and called for an investigation into complaints made to ITV. The former culture secretary also accused Schofield of “bullying” colleagues and abusing “authority, power and trust” after he confessed to having an affair with the younger colleague and covered it up with lies.
Kevin Lygo (pictured), director of television at ITV, denied yesterday that any mistakes were made in the network’s investigation
Kevin Lygo, director of television at ITV, denied yesterday that any mistakes were made in the network’s investigation.
When asked if there were any mistakes he faced, he simply replied ‘no’ sky news about which bosses knew what at ITV.
The scandal over the affair follows a turbulent few months for Schofield, who was ITV’s king of daytime television for decades.
But nine days ago he sensationally quit This Morning after 21 after falling out with Ms Willoughby, 42. His departure came just a day after his younger brother Timothy was sentenced to 12 years in prison on 11 convictions for sex crimes involving a child used to be.
Schofield was forced to confirm that the allegations of an affair were true because his former lover – who had also worked on This Morning – unexpectedly confessed everything to his lawyers.
The presenter had hired top law firm Mishcon de Reya to represent the young man, now in his mid-twenties, presumably in the belief that he would keep his mouth shut.
But his former lover told lawyers that while he feared disclosure, he was tired of lying about the relationship.
Although ITV investigated Schofield’s affair in 2020, a senior lawyer has said there should be an ‘inquiry’ into the affair due to possible ‘abuse of power’.