Young man who worked on This Morning and became close with Phillip Schofield left ITV ‘mysteriously’

A young runner who ‘mysteriously’ worked with Phillip Schofield left his role on This Morning after developing a close friendship with the presenter.

The man, who is in his 20s, first moved on to the ITV show Loose Women before leaving the network entirely – amid unfounded allegations of an argument with Schofield.

The Mail on Sunday has been told that other stars on the show and his colleagues were surprised to see the talented employee leave so quickly three years ago, especially given the mentoring Schofield had shown him.

Both ITV and Schofield insist his job on Loose Women was a promotion.

However, a source at ITV said: ‘He and Phil were close and then he just joined Loose Women, a rival show to This Morning. It was strange, the two men stopped talking so much.

“Phil was such a support to him, he really was a talented and hard-working man.

“Some of the network’s biggest names at the time expressed surprise, he was very popular. He never really talked about it, it was very mysterious.’

The man later left broadcasting and has since pursued a career in other television networks.

It comes as Phillip Schofield finds himself in the midst of the most challenging year of his career after first facing massive backlash for ‘standing in line’ – when he and Holly were both charged with it last year in to jump the line to see the queen lying in state.

More recently, Schofield has dealt with the fallout from his brother Timothy being convicted of sexually assaulting a teenage boy.

Timothy Schofield was convicted of 11 sex offenses involving a child between October 2016 and October 2019, including two sexual activities with a child, following a trial at Exeter Crown Court.

The co-hosts are now rumored to have fallen out amid claims that Phillip failed to tell Holly that his brother was on trial for child offenses before taking a three-week leave of absence in March and April.

Friends say Ms Willoughby was in the dark until Schofield took a week’s leave from the ITV daytime show to avoid the spotlight while the trial took place last month – something he is happy to deny.

Prior to the queue controversy, the couple had long been regarded as TV’s golden couple – who were undeniably close.

After a National Television Awards win in 2016, they showed up to their slot seemingly hungover from celebrating the night before.

Controversy: Phillip said his family has been through a ‘real ordeal’ after his younger brother Timothy (pictured) was convicted of child crimes

Holly and Phil faced growing backlash over claims they ‘skipped the line’ at Westminster Hall to see the Queen laid out

Crisis: ITV bosses were in crisis talks about Phillip Schofield’s future on This Morning last night after he reportedly ‘faced’ Holly in a tense phone conversation

And in 2020, when Schofield told viewers he was gay live on This Morning, Mrs Willoughby was by his side. He described her as his “rock.”

Schofield originally chose Ms. Willoughby as his new sidekick in 2009 after Fern Britton left the show.

However, Holly Willoughby is said to be considering her future as his TV sidekick following their falling out after 14 years together amid claims that they barely speak off screen.

PR master Mark Borkowski told MailOnline that ITV will certainly consider axing Phil as his brand becomes ‘toxic’.

Brand and culture expert Nick Ede predicts that Channel 5, who has been courting the BBC’s Dan Walker for £1.5million a year, will be waiting in the wings to offer Schofield a deal of the same size for a morning TV show. If ITV want to keep him they might offer him the Friday spot on This Morning, but Holly doesn’t want to join him, he said.

Mr Ede said: ‘He’s a bankable star and still a big name to many’, adding that due to his past as a BBC Radio 1 DJ the Beeb and the commercial broadcasters certainly want him.

“He was a very big musical star selling out West End shows like Joseph and Dr Doolittle, he might consider getting back on stage or touring in a pantomime,” he added.