Phillip Schofield's admission of an "unwise, but not not illegal" affair with a younger ITV colleague left the TV world shocked last week.
And it has now been claimed that his former lover's dreams of a TV career were ruined after the affair.
Friends of the much younger man, who started a relationship with Schofield when he was a teenager, say he was ‘determined to be famous’ and on track for a promising career.
Yet, after the affair, 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 from his family and friends.
One pal 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’.
“It’s obviously been a big downfall,” the pal added.
The Mirror has approached ITV for further comment on this story.
Details of ‘preferential treatment’ enjoyed by the young This Morning employee during his affair with Schofield have since emerged.
Apparently he ‘never made the teas’ or did ‘boring errands’ and would instead hang out with Schofield and celebrity guests on set.
The man had a showreel filmed at the This Morning studios in his bid to become a TV personality.
The young runner could be seen interviewing Phillip on the set in the clips.
And when This Morning won at the National Television Awards in 2018, the man accompanied Schofield and co-host Holly Willoughby on stage to collect the award – to the ‘fury’ of senior staff.
Schofield has since stepped down from This Morning, and admitted he had an "unwise" but "not illegal" affair with a younger ITV colleague while he was still married to wife Stephanie.
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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