Phillip Schofield – live: ITV boss Dame Carolyn McCall says Schofield’s lover denied affair 12 times
Former presenter Schofield resigned from ITV after admitting to an ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair with a younger male colleague
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Your support makes all the difference.ITV boss Dame Carolyn McCall appeared before a parliamentary committee today (Wednesday 14 June) to answer questions about the broadcaster’s approach to safeguarding and complaint handling after former employee Phillip Schofield’s exit from This Morning.
The chief executive faced questions from MPs on the This Morning row at a session of the Culture, Media, and Sport Committee. This comes after former presenter Schofield, 61, resigned from ITV and was dropped by his talent agency YMU after admitting to an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a younger male colleague.
Since Schofield’s resignation, This Morning has been plagued with allegations of “toxicity”. McCall vehemently denied this during the committee hearing and detailed how ITV bosses had repeatedly questioned Schofield and his lover about rumours of their affair.
The show’s former resident doctor Ranj Singh hit out at a “toxic” culture last month, saying he raised concerns about “bullying and discrimination” two years ago when he worked there – and afterwards felt like he was “managed out” for whistleblowing.
Carolyn McCall on This Morning ‘toxic culture’ accusations: ‘It’s not something that we take that seriously'
McCall says that ITV “does not recognise” that there is a toxic culture taking place on This Morning.
“We have tangible evidence to tell you [that] the vast majority of people at daytime, at This Morning, are extremely motivated and very motivated.”
ITV secretary Kyla Mullins says that there have been no changes to the complaints process at ITV as a result of the Schofield affair.
Kevin Lygo says Phillip Schofield implied he still wanted to host British Soap Awards and Dancing on Ice, days before he admitted to lying to ITV about the affair.
Lygo says Schofield “looked me in the eyes” and lied to him, then “two days later”, everything came out.
Carolyn McCall says she’s ‘very concerned’ for Phillip Schofield’s welfare
McCall says she’s “very concerned” for Phillip Schofield’s welfare, following his BBC interview, and “extremely concerned” for Person X given the media intrusion into his life.
Phillip Schofield receiving counselling from ITV on his request
Carolyn McCall says that Phillip Schofield is still in contact with ITV. He is currently receiving counselling, funded by ITV, on his request.
McCall denies ignoring ‘shortcomings’ at This Morning
McCall denies questioning that she ignored “shortcomings” at This Morning due to the show being “commercially successful”.
Adding that all ITV shows are commercially successful, she says that it was about handling the rumours sensitively.
“Nobody here would ever turn a blind eye to something as serious as this,” she says.
Carolyn McCall stresses there was no ‘investigation’ into Schofield’s rumoured affair – rather an ‘ongoing review'
McCall says that Person X was put on furlough during the first nine months of lockdown, which came one month after Schofield came out.
She adds that the man was unable to handle the level of press intrusion into his life, so was offered support by ITV to come forward at his own pace, as well as being offered councilling.
However, she stresses that this wasn’t an “investigation”, but rather an “ongoing review” amid periods of “intense speculation”.
Kevin Lygo says Schofield was ‘agitated’ before coming out in February 2020
Recalling Schofield publicly coming out as gay in February 2020, ITV’s managing director for media and entertainment Kevin Lygo said that Schofield had been “agitated” when he decided to come out.
Lygo says he told the presenter he didn’t have to rush the process and would be supported by ITV no matter what, but that Schofield insisted he should do it then after discussing with his family.
Man Schofield had affair with ‘categorically denied’ affair ‘12 times'
ITV secretary Kyla Mullins, who also supports whistleblowers at ITV, claims that the man Schofield had an affair with was questioned 12 times about whether he had had a relationship with the presenter.
The man, referred to today as “Person X”, “categorically denied” the allegations every time.
Asked how she responded to former ITV talent, such as Piers Morgan and James Corden, who have claimed that “everyone knew” about Schofield’s affair, McCall says that they would have just heard rumours and no formal complaints were ever made.
McCall says she and Kevin Lygo first heard of the rumours and began investigating in September 2019, which ramped up as social media attention grew in February 2020 when Schofield came out.
However, she says that she “doesn’t accept” that the “vast majority” of people at ITV knew about the affair.