Phillip Schofield has admitted he is still friends with his younger male former colleague at This Morning he had an affair with as he discussed exactly when and how the affair began.
Speaking about the scandal for the first time in an interview, Phillip, 61, was keen to stress that the 'moment' which kickstarted the "consensual" affair began after the two were working together and had become friends.
Phillip presented his final episode of This Morning on Thursday, May 18, with ITV confirming his immediate exit just two days later.
He subsequently parted ways from ITV and his management company after admitting to having cheated on his wife, Stephanie, with a runner from the daytime magazine show.
Phillip, who came out as gay on the ITV show he had hosted for more 20 years in February 2020, admitted he was "unprofessional" for his actions but was keen to explain the chronological order of the affair.
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."
He added: "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 claimed to have 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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