This Morning bosses were today forced to admit that Holly Willoughby was paid significantly less than Phillip Schofield when she first joined the programme after taking over from Fern Britton.
Fern was said to have dramatically quit daytime show and her long-running partnership with Phil after hearing she was pocketing £250,000 less than her co-star each year.
Managing director at ITV Lygo today faced questions at a culture committee about allegations of a toxic environment and bullying at ITV daytime.
It comes after ex employees claimed Schofield was an 'touchable' presence at the station before he dramatically quit his role this month when his affair was revealed.
Lygo, and ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall faced heated questions from MPs on the This Morning row at a session of the Culture, Media, and Sport Committee.
During the session, one of the question put forward from the MP's to Dame Carolyn was in relation to gender pay gaps.
In response to whether or not Holly Willoughby was being paid less than her co-host on This Morning since starting on the show in 2009, Mr Lygo admitted that Holly was paid significantly less than Phil when she first started 13 years ago.
He suggested that this was because Phil was so senior while she was only starting out in the role.
Holly joined the ITV daytime programme after Fern Britton stepped down as Phillip's co-host - reportedly because he was paid more for doing the same job.
"That was 12 or 15 years ago, I think you’ll find a lot has changed since then," insisted McCall in response to the probing question.
Managing director Lyco then confirmed Holly was 'eventually' paid the same as her co-host "but not when they started because she would have been junior and he was well established".
"We’ve made it a policy now that when people are doing the same job, like panellists on a show or something, they should be paid equally."
Phillip stepped down from This Morning with immediate effect in May, just six days before resigning from ITV entirely after admitting to an affair with a young male colleague who also worked on the show as a runner.
During the committee, McCall also revealed that Phillip is now receiving counselling funded by ITV after his fall from grace.
The ITV chief executive said that she had been in contact with Phillip, and is 'deeply concerned' for his welfare following the exposure of his affair with the younger man.
She also revealed that Phillip is now recieving counselling to cope with the trauma of losing his career, and having his affair exposed, as he continues to deny that he groomed the young man amid ongoing accusations.
McCall revealed that ITV are funding Phillip's counselling and still deeply care about the welfare of the former This Morning star after his 40-year TV career.
It comes after Phillip revealed that he had suicidal thoughts following the end of his career and the exposure of his affair.
In a sit-down interview with the BBC, Phillip said that he 'wouldn't be here' if it wasn't for the fact his daughters have not left his side since the news of his affair broke.
The session also covered ITV’s initial investigation into rumours regarding Schofield, the ITV-commissioned review into the facts by barrister Jane Mulcahy KC, the working culture on This Morning and other productions, as well as ITV’s use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and its whistleblowing policy.
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