#Scandal-Plagued U.K. Ex-TV Host Denies Grooming Much Younger Colleague, But Admits “I Did Something Very Wrong”

“I did something very wrong, and then I lied about it consistently.” This is how Phillip Schofield, who recently had to resign from his role as co-host of U.K. TV giant ITV’s morning show This Morning, apologized for an affair with a much younger production assistant during a BBC interview that made headlines and waves on Friday.

Asked about concerns that he may have groomed the young colleague, Schofield highlighted that he understood worries that he had abused his position of power, but emphasized that it “didn’t feel like that at the time.” Schofield, 61, also shared that he was “massively” concerned about the young man’s welfare, saying: “What he wants is for all this to go away.”

In May, the TV veteran admitted to having a relationship with a young employee before he had publicly come out as gay in 2020 and separated from his wife. Schofield had first met the young man, who was then 15, when he was invited to open a drama school. Schofield has said that the affair began after the young man had turned 18, when the anchor was in his early 50s, calling it “consensual” and “unwise, but not illegal.”

He reiterated this in his BBC interview. “He had been working at the show for a few months, and we’d become mates,” Schofield recalled. “Then in my dressing room one day, something happened.” The young man was 20 at the time; the age of consent in the U.K. is 16.  

Schofield added that similar interactions happened “four or five times over the next few months,” concluding: “I will regret this for me and him forever, mostly him. … I was in a mess with my own sexuality at the time and it just happened.”

In the BBC interview, Schofield also suggested that homophobia played a role in how much attention the affair has received in Britain. “If it was male-female, then it wouldn’t be such a scandal,” he suggested.

ITV has launched an external review of its handling of the incident. CEO Carolyn McCall said the company felt “badly let down” by Schofield, with the “extent of his deception” making an independent review necessary.

In his TV interview, Schofield suggested that there weren’t further hidden issues or scandals waiting to be unearthed, saying, “It’s my biggest, sorriest secret.”

He made clear that he doesn’t expect to return to screens, suggesting his TV career was over. “I have to talk about television in the past tense, which breaks my heart,” Schofield told the BBC. “I have lost everything.”

He also discussed suicidal thoughts, sharing that he “understands how Caroline Flack felt.” That was a reference to the former Love Island host who died by suicide in 2020. “Last week, if my daughters hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t be here,” Schofield told the BBC. “They’ve been by my side every moment because they’re scared to let me out of their sight. It’s like a weird numbness.” He concluded: “I know that’s a selfish point of view but you come to a point where you just think how much are you supposed to take.”