Former ITV chairman Archie Norman said “work place relations do happen” as he had his say on the ongoing Phillip Schofield saga.
The scandal erupted last month, when Phil’s exit from This Morning prompted a bombshell statement in which he admitted to having an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a much younger man who worked on the show.
The backlash prompted calls for heads to roll at ITV, as it emerged bosses had investigated reports of the relationship in 2020, but Phil - and the unnamed man - had denied it.
Now, Archie has waded into the controversy, and said it was too soon to predict if anyone would lose their job, as he said it was an “extraordinary” situation.
In an interview with GB News, the former ITV boss - who is now the chairman of Marks & Spencer - said that during his time at the channel, Phil and Holly Willoughby “were a brilliant team”.
In an exclusive interview with, Archie Norman, who is now the Chairman of Marks and Spencer, said: “I think in any crisis, corporate or government, the abiding lesson is to go to the end point at the beginning. Just assume the worst. I don’t know in this case whether that would have been possible. Philip and Holly were a brilliant team when I was there.
“This Morning was a great programme and during my time they were thoroughly professional,” he said.
He went on to say that ITV are “very good at looking after people and making sure things are done properly”, and said bosses at the channel were not to blame for Phil’s affair.
“But at the end of the day, workplace relationships do occur and you can't just assume because they occur that the employer somehow is in some way at fault,” he explained, adding that people shouldn’t “read too much into it”.
“It's understandable it's a big story because it's such a human interest story. It's such an extraordinary thing,” Archie stated.
He said ITV have “handled it pretty well”, and chief executive Carolyn McCall was “all over” the scandal and trusted their judgement.
But when pressed on the possibility that top bosses at the channel could lose their jobs after the inquiry into the scandal, Archie said he would be “a fool to say yes or no”.
He insisted ITV was a “well run business that looks after its people well”, and said the saga could’ve happened “in a lot of companies”.
