The young This Morning employee who had a relationship with Phillip Schofield will "have his say" according to reports. The runner is set to be interviewed by the independent barrister who is leading the external investigation into the affair.
Jane Mulcahy KC will quiz the man, who met the star when he was a teenager and Phillip was still married to wife Stephanie Lowe. Last week ITV boss Dame Carolyn McCall told MPs that the young man was asked whether rumours were true of a relationship between the pair a total of 12 times and each time it was "categorically denied" by both of them. McCall also denied the romance was an "open secret" at ITV.
Sources have since come forward and said that the young man was never asked, and the investigation heralds his chance to open up about his side of the story once and for all.
One told the Daily Mail: "ITV have kept in touch with the man and there will be a very thorough investigation, where many people close to the situation will be asked questions.
"It will be his chance to have his say. It could most definitely lead to some difficult reading for ITV's bosses if it turns out that he says he wasn't asked about the relationship 12 times."
Schofield dramatically quit This Morning and ITV altogether after he admitted to his "unwise but not illegal" affair with the young runner. The man had met the star when he came to visit his stage school when he was 15 and ended up getting a job at This Morning three years later, but Schofield has categorically denied that the relationship started until much later.
It's also been claimed the young man was moved to Loose Women following the end of the affair.
Dame Carolyn appeared in front of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee last week and said “we were repeatedly told nothing was happening” and both men denied it “both formally and informally”, with the younger employee, referred to as Person X, being questioned 12 times.
“There was only hearsay and rumour and speculation… Nobody on the board would have turned a blind eye to something as serious as this,” she said.
Dame Carolyn has set out the terms of reference in a letter for the external review, which will “consider the facts of this case and assess our relevant processes and policies” to decipher if it needs to be changed or strengthened.
Dame Carolyn confirmed in the letter that the barrister will review complaints since January 1 2016 “by employees or freelancers working on This Morning” and consider whether the steps taken were “appropriate and adequate”.
She also anticipated the review to be completed by the end of September this year.
Stars including Alison Hammond, Holly Willoughby and Dermot O'Leary are expected to be quizzed as part of the inquiry, as well as including Eamonn Holmes, Ruth Langsford and Dr Ranj Singh.
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