Phillip Schofield faces fresh scrutiny as ITV scandal to be centre of new TV show

Holly Willoughby (left) and Phillip Schofield attending the launch of Dancing On Ice 2020

Holly Willoughby (left) and Phillip Schofield attending the launch of Dancing On Ice 2020

PA
Jack Walters

By Jack Walters


Published: 15/09/2023

- 13:52

Updated: 15/09/2023

- 15:40

The 61-year-old left This Morning after 21 years on ITV’s flagship daytime show after admitting to repeatedly lying to his bosses about an affair with a runner

Phillip Schofield will likely face fresh scrutiny as a “jaw-dropping” TV show dramatising the ITV scandal looks set to hit screens.

The former This Morning host, 61, who labelled his affair with a runner “unwise but not illegal”, quit ITV in May after repeatedly lying to the broadcaster’s bosses.


Schofield confessed to misleading ITV bosses, his colleagues and agents at management firm YMU.

The working title is believed to be The Runner and will include his fallout with 42-year-old co-presenter Holly Willoughby.

WATCH GB NEWS' EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH EAMONN ON THE SCANDAL:

A source told The Sun that the production company has its eyes set on Channel 4, with the insider describing the broadcaster as the “perfect fit”.

They said: “The storyline will reflect what went on. People have seen it from the outside but the drama will give a perspective on what may have occurred behind-closed-doors.”

The scandal which engulfed ITV led Schofield to sit down for interviews.

He said: “Attraction is attraction. It's no different in the gay world as it is in the heterosexual world or in the lesbian world.

Phillip SchofieldPhillip Schofield left ITV and This Morning back in May BBC

“There shouldn't be a difference. This is where homophobia comes in.

“We did first meet when he was 15, I visited the drama school [he attended].”

In a statement, the former This Morning added: “I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning.

“Contrary to speculation, whilst I met the man when he was a teenager and was asked to help him to get into television, it was only after he started to work on the show that it became more than just a friendship.

Phillip Schofield Holly Willoughby

Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby during a previous appearance on This Morning

ITV

“That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over.”

Schofield later decided to leave London to spend time with his 87-year-old mother in Cornwall.

The 61-year-old dramatically decided to unfollow Willoughby on Instagram.

Schofield’s last post on the social media platform was a video of himself standing beside the Louis Vuitton Foundation art museum in Paris on May 7.

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