The Philip Schofield Case: This morning broadcast as usual

This Monday morning will start as normal and there are “no plans” to stop it, ITV said, as it faces questions about Philip Scofield’s relationship with a younger male colleague.

He quit ITV, saying the relationship was “unwise but not illegal”.

The radio said that it conducted an investigation in 2020, but found no evidence of this case other than a “rumor”.

ITV added that both Scofield and his younger colleague at the time “categorically and repeatedly denied the rumours”.

On Sunday, lawyers representing Schofield confirmed to the BBC that the couple had met when the younger colleague was 15.

They confirmed that there was no sexual relationship of any kind between Scofield and the individual until after he had begun work that morning.

He was 18 years old at the time of joining the programme.

The Mail on Sunday first reported that the pair met when the presenter was speaking at a theater school which the 15-year-old attended.

Scofield later arranged an interview for him on ITV before he started there, the newspaper said, and “shortly thereafter” the relationship began.

Former ITV daytime personalities such as Eamon Holmes and Dan Wootton said the confirmation of the relationship raised questions about how much the network’s directors knew about the relationship.

ITV did not respond to the BBC when asked about a report in the Sunday People newspaper that some daytime staff were planning to go to HR next week to threaten a mass strike over a series of “ignored complaints”.

An ITV spokesperson said on Sunday: “As we said on the record yesterday, this morning it is not under review and there are no plans to cancel the show.

They confirmed that he will be back as usual on Monday, with Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary also presenting.

Scofield had already left This Morning this past weekend after reports of a falling out with co-star Holly Willoughby.

On Saturday, she said it was “extremely painful” to find out her former co-host had lied to her about his affair.

“When reports of this relationship first came out, I asked Phil directly if it was true and he was told it wasn’t,” she said.

Willoughby is on an “extended half-term break” through June 5.

On Sunday, former culture minister Nadine Dorries said ITV had questions to answer.

She told the BBC’s Sunday Show with Laura Kuenssberg that there seemed to be an understanding that everything would move on after Schofield’s “groveling apology”.

“Not so, I’m afraid, because what he’s doing is asking questions about what happened.

“We know there have been complaints made to ITV over a long period of time – what happened to those complaints?”

She continued: “And how did that young lad get a job at ITV – what processes were there and what safeguards were there for someone who was so young at that age?”

Responding to Ms Dorries’ reference to the employee as a “young man”, an ITV spokesperson said: “We do not hire anyone under the age of 18 for paid production work on This Morning or indeed ITV.”

Dr. Rang Singh, who worked on This Morning for ten years and left the program two years ago, criticized the broader culture on the show, saying that the issues are “far beyond” Schofield.

Speaking on Twitter, he said he “didn’t really know what was going on with Philip,” but added, “It takes more than one person to create a culture.”

Schofield quit ITV on Friday after admitting an affair with the man.

He said he “met the man as a teenager and was asked to help him get into television,” describing the subsequent relationship as “unwise, but not illegal.”

“I had an on-going, consensual relationship with a young colleague this morning,” he said in a statement to the Daily Mail on Friday.

He was still married to his wife, Stephanie Lowe, at the time. They divorced in 2020 after he came out as gay.

Scofield said he was “very, very sorry” for being unfaithful to his wife, and for lying to colleagues, agents, employers, friends, the media, the public, and his family about the relationship.