Phillip Schofield has spoken out about the circumstances surrounding his relationship with the younger male former colleague at This Morning he had an affair with. In his first interviews since news of his departure from ITV broke, the 61-year-old has detailed how the affair began.
Speaking about the scandal for the first time in an interview, Phillip was keen to stress that the 'moment' which kickstarted the "consensual" affair began after the two were working together and had become friends.
Speaking for the first time since his high profile departure from ITV, the former This Morning presenter, 61, has spoken about the details surrounding his relationship and the impact of his departure from his roles at ITV. He said the fallout from the revelations had been “relentless” and urged the media to leave his former lover “alone now”. He said he has “lost everything” in the wake of his affair with a younger male colleague and told of a “catastrophic effect” on his mind, the Mirror reports.
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He told The Sun: "Then one day something happened that just changed it. That is the moment I look back on, and regret so deeply. It was in my dressing room in 2017, it was a consensual moment, it was mutual. It was not a love affair, it was not a relationship, we were not boyfriends; we were mates.
"It wasn’t feelings (I was getting), it was more like mates: excitement. I was really struggling with my sexuality at that time in the build up to what happened. But over a period of time it happened maybe five or six times."
"You look at yourself. I was unprofessional, one time, in a 41-year career. I know I did that. And there is no excuse. I won’t put forward an excuse. No one did anything wrong apart from me."
In the interview, Phillip insisted his six-month relationship with the runner started when the man was 20 and admitted he is still friends with his ex-lover.
The disgraced presenter admitted that he felt "massive guilt" over the affair and apologised to his former lover.
He said he has not spoken to the former colleague since stepping down from This Morning but admitted to paying for his lawyers to "independently work on his behalf".
Phillip added: "I am deeply sorry and I apologise to him because I should have known better. I should have acted the way I have always acted. I should not have done it.
"I’m sorry. And I will forever be sorry. I will die sorry. I am so deeply mortified."
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