Last week, Phillip Schofield confessed to an "unwise, but not not illegal" affair with a younger ITV colleague which left many completely shocked.
The This Morning presenter was married to his wife Steph at the time of the affair and now it is claimed that his former lover's dreams of a TV career were ruined due to the relationship, writes The Mirror.
Friends of Phillip's former lover, who met the TV presenter when he was a teenager, say he was ‘determined to be famous’ and on track for a promising career.
However, after the relationship ended, the young man went on to work in a country pub and is currently thought to be employed in a B&B in the north of England far away from his family and friends.
One friend told The Telegraph : “He was a very prominent personality on This Morning. The next step would have been to get on the production team and he was angling towards that.
“He should be having a good career in television right now, but because of this he’s not. For someone who was determined to be famous, it’s quite striking.”
The friend said he had spoken to the man, who told him he was now working in a B&B miles away and ‘hoped family and friends would visit’.
The friend added: “It’s obviously been a big downfall."
ITV have been approached for further comment on this story.
Since news of the affair emerged, details of ‘preferential treatment’ that the young This Morning employee received during his affair with Schofield have since come to light.
It is said that he ‘never made the teas’ or did ‘boring errands’ and would instead hang out with Schofield and celebrity guests on set.
He also had a showreel filmed at the This Morning studios with the hopes of making it big in the TV industry.
The young runner could be seen interviewing Phillip on the set in the clips.
In 2018, when This Morning won at the National Television Awards, the man accompanied Schofield and co-host Holly Willoughby on stage to collect the award, which is said to have 'infuriated' senior staff.
Schofield has since stepped down from This Morning and ITV.
In a statement, he apologised for lying to ITV, his colleagues, his agent and his family and friends.
He said: "In an effort to protect my ex-colleague I haven't been truthful about the relationship. But my recent, unrelated, departure from This Morning fuelled speculation and raised questions which have been impacting him, so for his sake it is important for me to be honest now.
"I am painfully conscious that I have lied to my employers at ITV, to my colleagues and friends, to my agents, to the media and therefore the public and most importantly of all to my family. I am so very, very sorry, as I am for having been unfaithful to my wife.”
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