Schofield’s ‘fragile’ lover gave up promising TV career to go and work in a pub
Phillip Schofield’s ‘vulnerable’ former lover gave up his promising TV career to take a job in a pub in a rural Lake District village, it emerged last night.
Friends of the young man, who landed a role on ITV after meeting Schofield, claimed he was ‘determined to become famous’ but suffered ‘a great downfall’ when the affair with the presenter ended.
It follows that ITV paid the young star after breaking up the relationship. The broadcaster repeatedly declined to comment on or denied the alleged settlement.
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 another program from the network Loose Women before eventually leaving the broadcaster.
Pictures have now emerged showing him working in a country bed and breakfast after turning his back on hopes of a stellar television career amid the This Morning and Schofield scandal.
Phillip Schofield’s former lover has given up his promising career in television to work in a country pub, friends say
The young man pictured with Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on the set of This Morning
Schofield admitted to lying on Friday about the ‘unwise, but not illegal’ affair with his junior colleague
The pub in question declined to comment when approached by MailOnline.
However, a friend said the young man had “a very prominent personality” in the ITV show and that the “next step” in his career would have been a job in the production team.
He told The Telegraph“He should have a good career in television now, but because of this, he isn’t.
“For someone who was determined to become famous, that’s pretty remarkable.
“He said he had found work in a remote pub B&B miles away and he hoped his family and friends would come.”
The insider added that it had been a “great downfall.”
Schofield admitted to lying on Friday about the “unwise, but not illegal” relationship with his junior colleague.
Tonight, ITV launched an outside inquiry into Schofield’s relationship with the man, amid a number of cries from former employees on the channel that ITV bosses must have known about their romance.
Former This Morning presenter Eamonn Holmes accused the broadcaster of a ‘total cover-up’ claiming that ‘the authorities had to know’ because the man was to be transported between Schofield’s £1 million studios in taxis ‘paid for by ITV’.
While ITV insiders told the Daily Mail the young man had been paid a payment following the end of the on-again, off-again relationship, which Schofield admitted last Friday, calling it “unwise but not illegal”. ITV has repeatedly declined to comment on or deny the alleged payout.
But tonight, in an embarrassing climb down for the broadcaster, a lawyer will conduct an outside investigation into the goings-on in an attempt to salvage the scandal that caused This Morning.
The former This Morning presenter claimed that ITV had no duty of care to the young member of staff because ‘everything at ITV was about making Phillip and Holly happy’.
Pixelated photo of Schofield leaving The Ivy Club with his much younger ex-lover in 2017
ITV insisted it had spoken to both Schofield and the young man involved when rumors of their relationship started
It follows a staff crisis meeting with the show’s editor, Martin Frizell, and daytime head Emma Gormley. Both came back from their holidays to attend.
Shortly after the meeting, where staff were allowed to raise questions and concerns with bosses, the broadcaster’s chief people officer, David Osborn, wrote to staff to update them on the investigation.
ITV insisted it had spoken to both Schofield and the young man involved when rumors of their relationship started. But sources close to the former production assistant claim ITV never asked him about the relationship.
Staff at the station quickly responded to the email, with some speculating that some in senior management would be cut.
One of them told the Daily Mail: ‘It’s about time this happened, no one has said a word all week while the bosses have been on holiday. Now they have to answer some questions and let’s hope they aren’t stupid enough to try to cover up what looks like a cover-up.’
It comes as senior ITV sources told the Daily Mail tonight that ITV ‘made and paid for’ a showreel of Schofield’s ex-lover at This Morning studios in a bid to launch his TV career.
The video was taken and shared in 2015 and shows the young man, now in his mid-twenties, interviewing Schofield.
A senior ITV source said: ‘This is quite extraordinary. It shows the extent of Schofield’s influence that he could make this happen for someone so young.
‘Of course it was all bought and paid for by ITV – it was filmed at the This Morning studios by the show’s cameramen. It even starts with the This Morning music. I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw it.
How many runners will have access to the cameras, studio and main presenter? I’ll tell you how many: none.’
The video again raises questions about how much ITV knew or suspected of Schofield’s affair with a much younger colleague.
MailOnline has contacted ITV about the video.
Speaking to GB News’ Dan Wootton in a telling interview about the scandal, Mr Holmes said the young man was left ‘vulnerable’, ‘alone’ and short of money when the affair ended, with Mr Holmes and his fellow presenter wife Ruth Langford gave him extra work to increase his income.
Schofield (pictured after leaving his ITV show) had met the young man when he was just 15 and still at 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.
Schofield hosted This Morning for over 20 years and co-presented with his co-star Holly Willoughby for 14 years
He claimed that ITV had no duty of care to the young member of staff because ‘everything at ITV was about making Phillip and Holly happy’. So no one else counted’.
Mr Wootton added that the situation worsened for the young man as he was forced to come out as gay to his family who didn’t know it before.
Holmes called the former runner a “lovely person” and a “really good talented guy” and added: “Ruth and I mostly took care of him, he never talked to us about a relationship but we knew he was in bad shape . and he was in bad shape.
“He seemed to have made a lot of money in his life. And he would use them for other jobs and help them and he was always very, very reliable. But he needed a lot of money in his life, for whatever reason.”
In the two-part bombshell interview, Holmes further claimed that Thursday night was “playtime” for the former couple, followed by dates at Schofield’s White City flat.
He added that while rumors of the affair circulated, the young man never confided in him or his wife. Soon after, he was moved to Loose Women.
“There was talk of Phillip having a relationship with a young man, that young man was being promoted.
“He wasn’t looking for a promotion, he wasn’t asking for a promotion. I’ve never heard it, and I’d like ITV to produce the records for people who have been promoted from This Morning to another programme, as it would have been a very rare event if it happened. So he was promoted against his will to another program – Loose Women’.
Holmes added that his wife is still in touch with Schofield’s former lover, adding that “life is tough for him.”