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ITV instructs barrister to review facts around Phillip Schofield exit ITV instructs barrister to review facts around Phillip Schofield exit
(about 1 hour later)
Chief executive Carolyn McCall says there has been ‘a lot of inaccuracy’ in reporting of This Morning controversyChief executive Carolyn McCall says there has been ‘a lot of inaccuracy’ in reporting of This Morning controversy
ITV has instructed a barrister to carry out an external review of the facts after Phillip Schofield’s departure from This Morning. Phillip Schofield could be interviewed by a leading barrister about his relationship with a younger colleague on This Morning after ITV launched an external review of its handling of the incident.
In a letter seen by the PA news agency, the ITV chief executive, Carolyn McCall, said: “You will have seen the significant media coverage concerning Phillip Schofield. As you would expect we take the matter extremely seriously and have reviewed our own records over the weekend. These show that when rumours of a relationship between Phillip Schofield and an employee of ITV first began to circulate in late 2019/early 2020, ITV investigated. Schofield, 61, quit the daytime television programme earlier this month amid tensions with co-host Holly Willoughby. Days later the presenter admitted having had an “unwise, but not illegal” affair with a substantially younger colleague after previously denying that any relationship took place.
The ITV chief executive, Carolyn McCall, said the company had been “badly let down” by Schofield, who had repeatedly lied to his employer about the workplace relationship. She said the “extent of his deception” meant it was necessary to have an independent review led by the leading employment lawyer Jane Mulcahy KC.
Sources at ITV suggested the barrister would seek to interview Schofield, the much younger employee, those who raised concerns about the workplace relationship at the time and other interested parties. She will also be allowed to review employment records and internal HR documents, with a review expected to take months.
McCall insisted that ITV had investigated the workplace relationship back in 2019 but at that time Schofield and the junior employee had “categorically and repeatedly denied the rumours”.
The chief executive also said the young employee was an adult when he joined the daytime TV show: “The ITV employee was aged 19 when he first did work experience at This Morning in 2015 and 20 years old when he applied and succeeded in securing a job as a runner on the show. He subsequently applied for and was successful in securing a promotion to Loose Women in 2019. He left ITV in 2021.
“As you would imagine given the social media scrutiny of him, we have offered him our support throughout this period and indeed are still doing so. The employee has made it clear that he does not wish to be named or identified in connection with this matter. We would be grateful if you would be mindful of this.
“The relationships we have with those we work with are based on trust. Phillip made assurances to us and his agency which he now acknowledges were untrue and we feel badly let down.”
In a letter to the government and the media regulator Ofcom, she said ITV had reviewed its records and that the broadcaster had done what it could in the circumstances: “These show that when rumours of a relationship between Phillip Schofield and an employee of ITV first began to circulate in late 2019/early 2020, ITV investigated.”
“Both parties were questioned then and both categorically and repeatedly denied the rumours, as did Phillip’s then agency YMU. In addition, ITV spoke to a number of people who worked on the This Morning and wider daytime team and were not provided with, and did not find, any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour.“Both parties were questioned then and both categorically and repeatedly denied the rumours, as did Phillip’s then agency YMU. In addition, ITV spoke to a number of people who worked on the This Morning and wider daytime team and were not provided with, and did not find, any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour.
“Given the ongoing rumours, we continued to ask questions of both parties, who both continued to deny the rumours, including as recently as this month. There has been a lot of inaccuracy in the reporting so I thought it would be useful to set out some facts.” “Given the ongoing rumours, we continued to ask questions of both parties, who both continued to deny the rumours, including as recently as this month.”
The letter was sent to the culture secretary, Lucy Frazer; the chair of the culture, media and sport select committee, Caroline Dinenage; and the Ofcom chief executive, Melanie Dawes. McCall also denied allegations by the former This Morning presenter Dr Ranj that there was a toxic culture behind the scenes on This Morning. She said the claims had been investigated and an “external review found no evidence of bullying or discrimination”.
More details soon … Willoughby has been off air since Schofield was sacked two weeks ago, although she is due to return from holiday this coming Monday.