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.

Former Culture Minister Nadine Dorries said ITV had questions to answer.

The radio said that it conducted an investigation in 2020 and found no evidence of this issue other than “rumours and rumours”.

On Saturday, it said both Scofield and his junior colleague “categorically and repeatedly” denied the rumours.

Her statement came after some former ITV daytime personalities, such as Eamon Holmes and Dan Wootton, said the revelations raised questions about how much the network executives knew about the relationship.

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

“This morning will be back as usual tomorrow.”

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”.

Schofield quit the program last weekend, and Holly Willoughby is on an “extended half-term break” until June 5.

Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary will present This Morning on Monday, according to ITV.

“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?”

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

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

He said he “met the guy when he was in his teens and was asked to help him get into television”, describing the subsequent relationship as “ill-advised, 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.

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

“It hurt so much now to know that was a lie.”

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