Phillip Schofield failed to apologize to his wife Stephanie Lowe for his affair with a This Morning colleague in a bombshell BBC interview.
After publicly admitting to having an affair in an explosive statement, the presenter, 61, broke his silence to insist his ‘biggest apology’ for the fallout was to his former lover, adding that he was ‘sorry to everyone to whom he lied’.
In the interview, released Friday morning, Phillip admitted that his relationship with Stephanie “isn’t great right now,” but that they have “a great marriage.”
The former ITV star defiantly showed off his wedding ring as he hinted they could prepare their relationship in the future, after The Daily Mail revealed that Stephanie is both furious and devastated by his admission of having an affair.
Phillip told BBC’s Amol Rajan: ‘I had a great marriage, have a great marriage [waves his wedding ring]although it’s not brilliant at the moment, with an incredibly supportive wife and two wonderful kids.
Speaking out: Phillip Schofield did not apologize to his wife Stephanie Lowe for his affair with a This Morning colleague in a bombshell BBC interview
Shocking: After publicly admitting to having an affair, the presenter, 61, broke his silence to insist his ‘biggest apology’ about the fallout was on his former lover
Host Amol noted that they are currently “separated,” with Phillip adding, “We’re divorced, but we’re very much together.”
When asked what he would like to say to Stephanie, Phillip said, “Oh my God, can you imagine how difficult that conversation was?” before pausing and saying, “Let’s just say it was an incredibly difficult conversation.”
“The hardest conversation I’ve ever had with her, and she’s extremely disappointed because I lied to her too. But she wished me well today, so we’ll see.’
When asked what he would say to his two daughters, Phillip said, “My daughters were, I called them and said, ‘I have something to tell you,'” and they came out to see me, and they were incredible.
“I looked at them and thought ‘well you got that right, and they don’t think you’re a bully, and they don’t think you’re toxic, and they know you messed up, royal.’
Phillip told Amol that his “biggest apology” for the fallout from the affair was to his former lover.
He said, “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.’
He added: “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.’
Interview: The former ITV star defiantly showed off his wedding ring during the interview, after The Daily Mail revealed Stephanie is both furious and devastated by his confession
Disturbing: Phillip said, “She’s extremely disappointed because I lied to her too,” while hinting that he still wants to mend their marital relationship
Despite this, Phillip praised his two daughters for saving his life over the past week following his exit from This Morning, saying he “wouldn’t be here if” it wasn’t for them.
Schofield related how his two daughters Molly, 29, and Ruby, 27, had “watched over me and wouldn’t let me out of my sight,” adding that he had felt a “weird numbness.”
The broadcaster also said he had ‘lost everything’ in the wake of the revelations, admitting his ‘career was over’ and there had been a ‘catastrophic effect’ on his mind.
Schofield continued, “I did something very wrong and then I lied about it consistently and you can’t live with that. How do you live with that?’
He also said, “I think I understand how Caroline Flack felt,” in the interview – Phillip’s first after leaving This Morning last week.
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 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.
Phillip insisted 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 pair were in a full-fledged relationship, claiming it “wasn’t a love affair, it wasn’t a relationship, we weren’t boyfriends; we were buddies’.
In an interview with The sunPhillip admitted that his wife was “very, very angry” when he confessed to her about his affair after lying and insisting that his younger lover was just a friend and colleague.
Speaking of how his wife found out about the affair, Schofield 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.’
Schofield’s faithful wife is both enraged and devastated by his admission that he had an affair with a much younger colleague during their marriage.
Friends say Lowe, the mother of the presenter’s two adult daughters, had no idea he was in a relationship, as Schofield had always described the man as a friend and colleague.
Recalling when he confessed to the affair, after previously denying it when asked, the former host said: “She got off the plane and I called and texted her saying, ‘I have to talk to you’. She called back and I told her.’
“She was very, very angry.”
Breaking his silence: Schofield described himself as a ‘broken’ man and denied allegations that he groomed the young man who landed a job at This Morning after meeting the former host
The presenter added that he is no longer on social media after being ruthlessly cheated in the wake of the affair scandal.
He told the publication, “AI won’t kill the human race — it’s social media.
‘Cause—what’s the saying? – a lie goes around the world before the truth has put on her boots. It’s an invention and it grows and grows and it’s like cancer. Social media is cancer.’
Phillop also lifted the lid on how Holly Willoughby distanced himself from him when his pedophile brother was jailed and confirmed they stopped talking after he left ITV.
He told the BBC: ‘I sent her a WhatsApp the day I released the statement. I said you don’t have to answer, you probably can’t, but I want to say I’m very sorry,” added Holly, who is currently on holiday in Portugal, did not reply.
Denying their relationship is “broken,” he continued, “I love Holly. I’ve always adored her. She’s my TV sister. I have no problem with her at all.
“I would like to say to everyone: my family, friends, my colleagues, ITV, the public, my management company, the people I have lied to: I am so sorry. But first of all I want to apologize to him.
“It may have been consensual, perfectly legal, but I shouldn’t have let it happen and that’s a grave mistake on my part and I know that because when that happens, an absolutely innocent person is being prosecuted.”
Since Schofield’s resignation, This Morning has been plagued by allegations of ‘toxicity’ – which has also affected Willoughby’s status.
Producers have also had to deal with guests turning down offers to appear on This Morning – and its biggest sponsor, car dealer Arnold Clark, has confirmed it will not renew an existing multi-million pound deal with the channel in the autumn.
Still, Holly Willoughby is determined to fight to keep her spot on the This Morning bench and hopes to ‘ride’ the ongoing scandal surrounding Schofield that has plunged ITV into crisis, a source claims.
It stems from fears the program will lose more of its advertisers, as one insider said ‘brands don’t feel ITV is a safe bet at the moment’.
However, a friend of Willoughby’s said the star has “nothing to hide” from an ITV probe.
The star was in Portugal when she found out that topside Jane Mulcahy KC would be ‘carrying out an external assessment to establish the facts’.
A source told The mirrorHolly will of course cooperate 100% with the investigation if asked, as she has absolutely nothing to hide.
“She’s made it crystal clear that Phil lied to her about his relationship with the runner, and is super relaxed about giving her version of events.”
Schofield claimed his relationship with his former best friend fell apart after his brother was in prison, leading her to distance herself from the friendship.
The veteran ITV presenter had stepped down from his role on This Morning just days after his pedophile brother Timothy Schofield was sentenced to 12 years in prison for a slew of child crimes, including assaulting a teenage boy he was caring for.
Last Friday, Schofield admitted lying to ITV, his co-host, his agency YMU and lawyers about his relationship with a much younger colleague.
The revelation caused ITV to collapse and be forced to launch an outside inquiry into the affair, after a number of former workers claimed the station’s bosses must have known about their romance.