ITV has ordered an external legal review into Phillip Schofield’s acrimonious departure from This Morning, saying: “We feel badly let down.”
Chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall said a barrister will carry out a review of the facts after the 61-year-old resigned and was dropped by his talent agency admitting to an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a younger male colleague.
In a letter to culture secretary Lucy Frazer, she also referred to wider stories about This Morning, including allegations of a “toxic culture” by former presenter Dr Ranj Singh.
It said: “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 and conduct annual mandatory training for all staff.”
The letter said the broadcaster had instructed Jane Mulcahy KC to carry out a review to establish the facts surrounding Schofield’s departure, including looking into the statement he made when he agreed to leave This Morning. She will also review ITV’s records around the investigation into allegations of an affair when they first surfaced in 2020 and talk to those involved.
The review will also assess ITV’s processes and policies and whether they need to be changed or strengthened.
“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,” the letter added.
“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.”
It comes as ITV bosses are set to face questions from MPs over the scandal.
After initially stepping down from the show, Schofield quit ITV altogether last week after revealing he lied about an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a younger colleague.
In a lengthy statement issued last Friday, Schofield said: “I am painfully conscious that I have lied to my employers at ITV.”
In response, ITV said it investigated “rumours of a relationship” between Schofield and a This Morning employee in 2020 but said both parties “repeatedly denied” the claims.
A spokesperson for ITV said on Saturday that the broadcaster was “not provided with, and did not find, any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour” when it looked into the matter.
Later, Dr Ranj accused This Morning of having a “toxic culture”. The health expert, who appeared on the daytime TV show for 10 years, said he was “increasingly worried” about things that were happening on the programme and how people were being treated.
He claims that after he raised these concerns with top bosses at ITV he was “managed out” and has not appeared on the show since.
Separately, former colleague Eamonn Holmes addressed last year’s 'Queuegate' scandal surrounding Schofield and his co-presenter Holly Willoughby.
The pair denied they had skipped the hours-long queue to file past the queen’s coffin, saying they had instead been escorted to a separate press platform at the back of Westminster Hall and were there to record a film for broadcast.
But Holmes said: “They were there to make a film on the Queen’s funeral. Have you seen the film? That’s the official line given by the editor of the programme that they were there to make a film but unless there’s any documentary evidence of this, I would put it to you that this is another lie.”
