ITV said it has instructed a barrister to carry out an external review of the facts following Phillip Schofield’s statement and departure from This Morning.
The 61-year-old suddenly left the show after weeks of rumours of a feud between himself and This Morning co-presenter Holly Willoughby.
Days later he publicly confessed he had lied to his family, colleagues, and management about having an affair with the younger member of staff at ITV, while still married to his now-ex-wife Stephanie Lowe.
He also released a separate statement saying there ‘was no toxicity’ on the show. It came after former This Morning star Dr Ranj Singh hit out at the show’s “toxic” culture in a Twitter post on Sunday night.
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In a letter seen by the PA news agency, and sent to Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer, DCMS Committee chair Dame Caroline Dinenage and Ofcom chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes, ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall said: “You will have seen the significant media coverage concerning Phillip Schofield.
“As you would expect we take the matter extremely seriously and have reviewed our own records over the weekend. These show that when rumours of a relationship between Phillip Schofield and an employee of ITV first began to circulate in late 2019/early 2020 ITV investigated.
“Both parties were questioned then and both categorically and repeatedly denied the rumours, as did Phillip’s then agency YMU. In addition, ITV spoke to a number of people who worked on the This Morning and wider Daytime team and were not provided with, and did not find any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour.
“Given the ongoing rumours, we continued to ask questions of both parties, who both continued to deny the rumours, including as recently as this month. There has been a lot of inaccuracy in the reporting so I thought it would be useful to set out some facts.”
In the letter, Dame Carolyn said the employee Phillip Schofield admitted to an affair with has been offered support throughout.
She said: “The ITV employee was aged 19 when he first did work experience at This Morning in 2015 and 20 years old when he applied and succeeded in securing a job as a runner on the show. He subsequently applied for and was successful in securing a promotion to Loose Women in 2019. He left ITV in 2021.
“As you would imagine given the social media scrutiny of him, we have offered him our support throughout this period and indeed are still doing so. The employee has made it clear that he does not wish to be named or identified in connection with this matter. We would be grateful if you would be mindful of this.
“The relationships we have with those we work with are based on trust. Phillip made assurances to us and his agency which he now acknowledges were untrue and we feel badly let down.
“We consider our approach was reasonable and proportionate at the time and in the circumstances. We believe that we did not have any grounds to mount any other sort of investigation.”
The letter to the Culture Secretary also referred to wider stories about This Morning, including allegations of a “toxic culture” by Dr Ranj, a former presenter on the show, saying: “We were sorry to read his statement.
“We are fully committed to providing every opportunity for anyone who works with us to raise any concern or comments they may have. Following a complaint made by Dr Ranj, we appointed an external and independent advisor to carry out a review. This external review found no evidence of bullying or discrimination.
“I want to reassure you that as a producer and broadcaster, ITV takes its responsibilities around duty of care and speaking up seriously and has robust and well-established processes in place which allow anyone who works with us to raise concerns they may have anonymously.
“The confidential reporting number and other ways of raising concerns are promoted via a number of channels, which includes ITV’s internal staff website, across ITV buildings and how to speak up is part of ITV’s code of ethics & conduct annual mandatory training for all staff.
“We have now instructed Jane Mulcahy KC (Blackstone Chambers) to carry out an external review to establish the facts. She will review our records and talk to people involved. This work will also consider our relevant processes and policies and whether we need to change or strengthen any.
“Given Phillip’s admission of the extent of his deception the work will extend to cover any related issues that may emerge. This work will be carried out as quickly as possible and we will be happy to share the outcome.”
Schofield had presented This Morning since 2002, with Willoughby joining the programme in 2009.
The pair’s friendly relationship and informal nature on the programme resulted in viral segments and industry recognition, including multiple National Television Awards.
Schofield resigned from the broadcaster on Friday and was dropped by his talent agency YMU after admitting to an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a younger male colleague.
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