This Morning faces the axe in the wake of the Phillip Schofield scandal.
ITV ’s chief is said to believe it has been “tarnished beyond repair” after he admitted he lied about a relationship with a younger male colleague.
And Holly Willoughby last night blasted her former co-host, claiming he lied to her when she confronted him about the rumours.
The 42-year-old, thought to be on holiday in the Algarve, wrote: “It has taken some time to process yesterday’s news. When reports of this relationship first surfaced, I asked Phil directly if this was true and was told it was not. It’s been very hurtful to now find out that this was a lie.”
It comes after ITV bosses insisted in a statement they had probed reports of a relationship between Schofield, 61, and an ex-colleague in his 20s but were lied to by both.
They also said multiple staff members failed to provide evidence of the affair “beyond hearsay and rumour”. So they took no further action. Now, well-placed sources behind the scenes say ITV chief executive Carolyn McCall’s job could be under threat.
This Morning editor Martin Frizell, a former close ally of Schofield, is also under scrutiny, as are head of Daytime Emma Gormley and director of television Kevin Lygo.
And McCall is said to be seeking to scrap the multi award-winning show, believing it is now “toxic”.
A top source claims: “The reality is things have gone too far. The show and the brand are tarnished beyond repair – no one is going to want to appear on it and Carolyn is looking to axe it. Her job could also be on the rocks. Behind the scenes it’s being said that it is a ‘f***ing nightmare’.”
Criticism mounted on Friday as former This Morning host Eamonn Holmes took to Twitter to slam Schofield and pour scorn on his former bosses.
He wrote: “Ruth and I [were] deceived and lied to... What transpired took us for fools. The man told us complete lies and we unfortunately believed him.
“Schofield has finally been caught out, but he’s not the only guilty party. Four high members of ITV management knew what sort of man he was.”
A source close to Holmes last night also confirmed that, while he was unaware of Schofield’s relationship, he did his best to speak up for staff he felt were treated badly while on the show. The insider said: “Eamonn did what he could while he was there.
“He felt those people needed to have a voice. But at the time, nothing was done and he feels ITV have questions to answer.” Another source – a former TV exec also claimed to have directly warned ITV management that some of Schofield’s disgruntled former colleagues could go public in 2021, and was later told by HR the matter was “ongoing”.
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And one insider claimed some Daytime staff are planning to collectively go to HR this week and threaten a mass walkout over a series of ignored complaints.
Schofield presented the multi-NTA-winning show for 21 years. But after his secret relationship soured, sources claimed the young male colleague fell quickly out of favour.
Schofield has been in hiding since his exit from the show.
Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary – who filled in on This Morning this week – have made no comment. But behind the scenes the duo are said to be fuming at having to make a toe-curling tribute to Schofield on Monday.
A source said: “Both are furious. The telling thing in all of this is the silence where Phil’s colleagues could have stepped in to back him. No one wants to be damaged by association.
“There is a real shock behind the scenes that such a successful show has been so badly hit by the actions of one presenter.
“The thinking last week was that when it returned after the summer, Phil would not be replaced by one person – but that there’d be a rolling rota on the sofa, much like there is on Good Morning Britain. But now those conversations seem irrelevant.”
An ITV spokeswoman last night insisted that This Morning was “not under review” – but could not confirm it would not face review in coming months.
She said: "This Morning is not under review. The show will return on Monday.”
ITV must not shirk duty to reveal full truth, writes LAURA ARMSTRONG
After learning he was to be ousted from This Morning – his job for
more than two decades – last week, Phillip Schofield was said to have been distraught.
Sources who saw him shortly afterwards described him as “shaking and crying”, saying “he looked like a broken man”.
Perhaps the former TV favourite thought he’d hit rock bottom. But as we learned on Friday, he still had some way to go.
Phil’s grovelling admission that he had lied to his bosses, agents and lawyers about his affair must have cut deep. A full and rigorous ITV investigation into the way in which he “ruled the roost” behind the scenes at This Morning is both needed and overdue.
But it bears remembering we do not yet have the full story where Phil is concerned. And until we do, maybe the most vocal among us should pause in the sharpening of pitchforks.
Even as the show itself prepares for its fatal knifing.
