Phillip Schofield says "it was my fault" in a BBC interview about his affair with a younger male colleague.
The 61-year-old will reveal more details about his relationship with a younger TV runner in a sit down interview with the BBC announced tonight. It comes following his dramatic exit from This Morning last month.
In a short clip ahead of the full interview's release on BBC iPlayer at 6am on Friday, June 2, BBC journalist Amol Rajan asks Mr Schofield more about the circumstances of his relationship with the runner and whether this could be classed as grooming.
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Mr Rajan said: "You met someone as a child, you were in a position of power over them.
"You used your power eventually to give them something they craved, which was a shot at a job in the media. You nurtured a relationship and then that relationship became sexual. They might ask what's the difference between that and grooming?
The former This Morning presenter said when he started speaking to the man he would go onto have an affair with about careers "it was a totally innocent Twitter follow."
He said: "It was a totally innocent picture, a totally innocent Twitter follow of which I follow 11,400 people and then it was a completely innocent backwards and forwards over a period of time about a job, about careers.
"What's wrong with that? What's wrong with talking to someone no matter what age they are? Does that mean if you're following anyone on Twitter that you absolutely don't talk to anyone else or you don't give advice?
He added: "I disagree with the summation you just gave because that does paint a very grave picture."
Asked why he referred to the relationship as unwise, the TV presenter said: "The brief communications backwards and forwards up to the point that he came to work on This Morning was just chat. What was unwise was the fact that it happened - and that was a very, very grave error. Now it was consensual, but it was my fault."
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