Ed Balls appeared to criticise Phillip Schofield amid the ongoing scandal surrounding the TV star’s affair with a younger colleague on This Morning.
The former politician appeared on Good Morning Britain on Monday, and took aim at the 61-year-old, after a series of bombshell statements left the future of the show - and Phillip’s career - up in the air.
The furore began when the former This Morning presenter stood down from presenting the hit ITV daytime show earlier this month, and issued a statement shutting down rumours of a rift between him and co-star Holly Willoughby.
However, it later emerged that Phillip had a secret relationship with an ITV production assistant that he kept hidden from his wife Steph, Holly and ITV bosses for years.
He admitted in a statement he had a “consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague” who he had met when he was a teenager and wanted to get into television.
“It was only after he started to work on the show that it became more than just a friendship,” Philip added.
"That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over."
Ex Labour MP Ed lambasted the disgraced TV star, and said “powerful people” should take “extra responsibility” when it comes to dealing with young people.
“There are certain professions, politics is one, television the same, where very powerful people work with young people all the time in a very intensive way. But that means an extra responsibility,” he explained.
“And our society’s changed, even compared to when I was in politics. Now politics is dealing with scandals and the abuse of power in the workplace which were never even talked about (before),” the former Strictly Come Dancing star added.
Reports first surfaced around the nature of Phillip’s relationship with the young production assistant in 2020, and it was recently revealed they had begun dating shortly after he started working on the ITV daytime show.
The father-of-two managed to keep their relationship hidden, and Phillip’s former co-presenter Holly released a statement detailing her devastation at being lied to by her close friend.
“When reports of this relationship first surfaced, I asked Phil directly if this was true and was told it was not. It’s been very hurtful to now find out that this was a lie,” she said in a brief post on social media.
ITV also released a statement revealing they had investigated Philip over the allegations in 2020, but he had denied the affair.
“Phillip’s statement yesterday reveals that he lied to people at ITV, from senior management to fellow presenters, to YMU, to the media and to others over this relationship,” they added.
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