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British broadcaster Philip Schofield was fired from his agency of 35 years, YMU, on the same day he admitted to having an extramarital affair with a younger ITV employee.
UK TV’s permanent broadcaster has issued a lengthy apology – which you can read below – via UK publication The Daily Mail. In his apology, he said he would not be working with the ITV broadcaster in the near future or hosting an upcoming award ceremony.
Marie Bakhit, CEO of YMU Group, said today: “Honesty and integrity are core values of YMU’s entire business, and define everything we do. Talent management is a relationship based entirely on trust.
She continued: “This week we learned important new information about our client Philip Scofield. These facts contradicted what Philip had previously told YMU, as well
The outside advisors we brought in to support him. As a result, on Thursday we agreed to separate the company with Philip, with immediate effect.”
Through his attorney, Schofield issued the following statement in response: “With great regret, after 35 years of faultless management by YMU, I have agreed to step down from their representation with immediate effect.”
The agency’s drop follows Schofield’s abrupt exit last week from the popular ITV programme This morning, which he co-hosted for twenty years. This exit followed reports that his relationship with co-host Holly Willoughby had come under pressure and speculation that the exit involved an affair with a younger ITV employee. Schofield said he understood that ITV had decided that “the status quo (could) not continue”.
Today, in a lengthy statement sent to the Daily Mail, the presenter said: “I have had an on and off relationship with a younger male colleague at This morning. Contrary to speculation, while I met the man as a teenager and was asked to help him get into television, it was after he started working on the show that it became more than friendship. That relationship was ill-advised, but it wasn’t illegal. It’s over now.”
Scofield was still married to his wife, Stephanie Lowe, at the time of the affair. The anchor opened up about being gay in 2020, but remains married to Louie.
Schofield said today he will not be working with ITV in the near future after the broadcaster said it would look for a job for him after he leaves. This morning. He also confirmed to the Daily Mail that he will not be presenting next week’s British Soap Awards – a role he has held since 2006.
You can read Schofield’s full statement sent to the Daily Mail below:
I am making this statement via the Daily Mail to which I have already personally apologized for misleading, through a lawyer who 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 terribly sorry that I lied to them, and many others about a relationship I had with someone who works this morning. I had an on and off relationship with a younger male colleague this morning.
Contrary to speculation, while I met the man as a teenager and was asked to help him get into television, it was after he started working on the show that it became more than friendship. That relationship was ill-advised, but it wasn’t illegal. It’s over now.
When I chose to go out, I did so entirely for my own well-being. Nobody “forced” me out. Neither I nor any other person, as far as I know, has ever made an injunction, excellent or otherwise, in relation to my relation to this fellow, that has not been moved or dismissed by or on my account.
In an effort to protect my ex, I haven’t been honest about the relationship.
But my recent, unrelated exit this morning sparked speculation and raised questions that affected him, so it’s important for me to be honest now for his sake.
I am painfully aware that I have been lied to to my employers at ITV, to my colleagues and friends, to my agents, to the media and by extension to the public and most of all to my family. I am very, very sorry, that I have been unfaithful to my wife.
I have therefore decided to forego the British Soap Awards, my last public commitment, and resign from ITV with immediate effect to express my immense gratitude to them for all the wonderful opportunities they have given me.
I will consider my very poor judgment of being involved in the relationship and then lying about it.
To protect his privacy, I am not naming this person, and it is my hope that he and his family can now move on with their lives free from further intrusion, 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.