The editor of This Morning says members of staff are now 'concerned for their jobs' as he calls for 'respite' from the Phillip Schofield saga. The ITV show has come under fire in recent weeks since details of an affair involving the ex-presenter and a younger colleague came to light.
Phillip quit This Morning two weeks ago amid rumours of a feud with co-presenter Holly Willoughby, before the 61-year-old left ITV entirely after admitting lying about the affair. Speaking to Sky News today, This Morning editor Martin Frizell spoke of the toll the saga was having on his workforce.
And he urged people to 'read between the lines' as other people previously associated with the show wade in on the issue, suggesting there may be 'scores to settle' from some. Martin said: "All I just want to say is I'm working with a fantastic team of mainly women, many mums, a lot of them concerned for their jobs - although we've told them not to be.
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"But this is the 23rd day now of being on the front page and it's tiring. They worked all through covid, brilliantly, they worked all through this putting a programme out - two-and-a-half hours a day - and I just think it needs a bit of respite now."
Asked if he felt there was a 'toxic' culture at This Morning, Martin added: "I think you've got to read between the lines. I think there's some scores being settled."
A KC has been appointed to carry out an external review into how ITV handled the affair, and Martin insisted he was not concerned about that process, adding that he was confident she would 'get to the bottom of the questions to be answered'. Phillip was dropped by talent agency YMU after admitting to an 'unwise but not illegal' relationship with the younger colleague.
In his first interviews since leaving This Morning, he said he was 'utterly broken and ashamed' but denied he had 'groomed' the man. He told the BBC's Amol Rajan: "It is relentless, and it is day after day, after day after day.
"If you don’t think that that is going to have the most catastrophic effect on someone's mind – do you want me to die? Because that's where I am. I have lost everything."
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