Phillip Schofield replacement confirmed as ITV announces new Soap Awards host
Phillip Schofield stepped back from hosting the awards last week
ITV
Phillip Schofield's replacement for the British Soap Awards has been confirmed by ITV.
The now disgraced former This Morning host announced last week that he would no longer be hosting the awards ceremony after admitting to an "unwise but not illegal" affair with a younger male.
Operatic singer and cruise ship favourite Jane McDonald will now take on the role.
The 60-year-old is best known for her popular Channel 5 series Cruising With Jane.
Jane McDonald will step in to replace Phillip Schofield
PA
She previously also held a role as a panellist on ITV's Loose Women.
The Soap Awards will take place in Manchester on Saturday at 7.45pm.
Schofield's announcement that he was dropping out from his duties as host last weekend left ITV bosses with just seven days to find a replacement.
All references to the well-known morning TV presenter have now been removed from the official website of the awards.
Schofield said he would no longer host the prestigious ceremony after being forced to admit to having lied about his relationship with a This Morning runner.
It emerged last week that he had been having a relationship with a man during his marriage to Stephanie Lowe, despite previously denying the allegations to ITV, his agent, and the press.
In a statement last week, he said: "I am making this statement via the Daily Mail, to whom I have already apologised personally for misleading, through my lawyer who I also misled, about a story which they wanted to write about me a few days ago.
"The first thing I want to say is: I am deeply sorry for having lied to them, and to many others about a relationship that I had with someone working on This Morning.
Phillip Schofield released a statement on his departure from ITV last weekend
PA"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 a just a friendship.
"That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over...
"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...
"I am resigning from ITV with immediate effect, expressing my immense gratitude to them for all the amazing opportunities that they have given me.
"I will reflect on my very bad judgement in both participating in the relationship and then lying about it."
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