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UPDATED: ITV presenter Phillip Schofield has been dropped by his agents at YMU Group.
The departure from YMU comes as Schofield confirmed to the Daily Mail that he had an affair with a younger male staffer at ITV while still married. (The presenter came out as gay in February 2020 and is now estranged from his wife.) He has now resigned from ITV “with immediate effect” and also retired as host of the British Soap Awards in June.
In a lengthy statement, Schofield said: “Contrary to speculation, while I met the man when he was a teenager and was asked to help him in television, it wasn’t until he started working on the show that it became more than just a friendship. That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It’s over now.”
YMU confirmed this Variety on Friday that it has said “goodbye” to Schofield, who retired from his hosting duties on ITV’s “This Morning” last week after 21 years on the air. The presenter’s departure followed persistent rumors of a split with co-host Holly Willoughby linked to his younger brother’s trial for sexual assault.
Timothy Schofield was found guilty of 11 charges in connection with sexually assaulting a child between 2016 and 2019, and was sentenced last week to 12 years in prison. During the trial, the court learned that Timothy Schofield had confessed his crimes to his older brother two months before the criminal proceedings began, to which the presenter had replied: “I don’t want you to tell me any more… You have to stop, do it just never again. However that happened, it must never happen again.”
Tabloid reports suggested that Willoughby was upset that Schofield had not discussed the matter with her, though she has not directly addressed their backstage issues. The alleged feud between the pair came as a shock to fans given their close bond outside of work. Willoughby also supported Schofield when he came out as gay in 2020, writing on Instagram, “Never been so proud of my friend as I am now.”
In its statement, YMU suggested it had recently learned “new information” about Schofield that led them to cut ties with their longtime client. The agency gave no further details, but news of Schofield’s admission to the affair broke in the Daily Mail within an hour.
Mary Bekhait, Group CEO of YMU Group, said: “Honesty and integrity are core values for the entire YMU business, guiding everything we do. Talent management is a relationship based entirely on trust.
“This week we learned important new information about our client Phillip Schofield. These facts contradicted what Phillip had previously told YMU, as well as the outside consultants we engaged to support him. As a result, on Thursday we agreed to part ways with Phillip with immediate effect.”
In a statement shared with Variety Through his legal representatives, Schofield said, “I deeply regret that after 35 years of flawlessly running YMU, I have agreed to step down from their representation with immediate effect.”
Schofield has been replaced on “This Morning” by Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond. Willoughby will remain on the schedule, although she will take a short break until she returns in early June.
Read Schofield’s full statement below:
I am making this statement through the Daily Mail to whom I have already personally apologized for misleading, through my lawyer whom I also misled, about a story they wanted to write about me a few days ago.
The first thing I want to say is: I am very sorry that I lied to them and to many others about a relationship I had with someone who worked on This Morning. I did have a consensual on and off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning.
Contrary to speculation, while I met the man when he was a teenager and was asked to help him get on television, it wasn’t until after he started working on the show that it became more than just a friendship. That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It’s over now.
When I chose to come out, I did it entirely for my own good. No one ‘forced’ me out. Neither I nor anyone else, to my knowledge, has ever issued any warrant, super or otherwise, regarding my relationship with this colleague, he has never moved or been fired by or because of me.
In an effort to protect my ex-colleague, I have not been honest about the relationship. But my recent unrelated departure from This Morning fueled speculation and raised questions that have affected him, so for him it’s important for me to be honest now.
I am painfully aware that I have lied to my employers at ITV, to my colleagues and friends, to my agents, to the media and therefore to the public and especially my family. I am very sorry, just like that I have been unfaithful to my wife.
I have therefore decided to step down from the British Soap Awards, my last public commitment, and resign from ITV with immediate effect, expressing my immense gratitude to them for all the wonderful opportunities they have given me. I will reflect on my very poor judgment in both participating in the relationship and then lying about it.
To protect his privacy, I am not naming this person and my deepest wish is that both he and his family can now move on with their lives without further interference, and that this statement will enable them to do so. I now ask the media to respect their privacy. They have done nothing wrong and I ask that their privacy be respected.