Phillip Schofield and agent YMU Group full statements as former ITV This Morning host admits affair

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YMU Group has confirmed that they have parted ways with Phillip Schofield following his revelation.

Phillip Schofield’s agency said the former ITV host has been dropped ‘with immediate effect’ following his revelation where he admitted that he had an affair with a ‘much younger’ male colleague on This Morning.

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In a statement, which was released via a major newspaper daily on Friday (May 26), Schofield, who resigned as a This Morning host last week, also revealed he is stepping down from presenting the British Soap Awards.

The affair took place before Schofield publicly came out as gay on This Morning three years ago, and while he was still married to his wife Stephanie Lowe. The 61-year-old presenter said he and the man began a relationship that was more than a friendship, which he defines as “unwise but not illegal".

He also admitted to lying about the relationship to ITV, his coworkers, friends, and his YMU agents. He also lied to the daily, which ran the story earlier this month, and apologised profusely today.

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Schofield’s agency said the statement “contradicted” what he had previously told YMU, as well as the external advisors that were brought in to support him. Mary Bekhait, the group CEO of YMU Group said: "Honesty and integrity are core values for YMU’s whole business, defining everything we do.

"Talent management is a relationship based entirely on trust.This week, we have learned important new information about our client Phillip Schofield. These facts contradicted what Phillip had previously told YMU, as well as the external advisors we had brought in to support him.

"As a result, on Thursday we agreed to part company with Phillip, with immediate effect."

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Schofield’s departure from This Morning after weeks of speculation about a rift between him and co-host Holly Willoughby. Rumours of underlying issues between the two started to circulate After his brother Tim Schofield was found guilty of engaging in sexual conduct with a child.

Phillip Schofield. (Photo by Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)Phillip Schofield. (Photo by Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
Phillip Schofield. (Photo by Dave J Hogan/Getty Images) | Dave J Hogan/Getty Images

Phillip Schofield full statement

“I am making this statement via the Daily Mail to whom I have already apologised personally for misleading, through my lawyer who I also misled, about a story which they wanted to write about me a few days ago.

“The first thing I want to say is: I am deeply sorry for having lied to them, and to many others about a relationship that I had with someone working on This Morning. I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning.

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“Contrary to speculation, whilst I met the man when he was a teenager and was asked to help him to get into television, it was only after he started to work on the show that it became more than just a friendship. That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over.

Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield. (Photo by Mike Marsland/WireImage)Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield. (Photo by Mike Marsland/WireImage)
Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield. (Photo by Mike Marsland/WireImage) | Mike Marsland/WireImage

“When I chose to come out I did so entirely for my own wellbeing. Nobody ‘forced’ me out. Neither I nor anyone else, to my knowledge, has ever issued an injunction, super or otherwise, about my relationship with this colleague, he was never moved on or sacked by or because of me.

“In an effort to protect my ex-colleague I haven’t been truthful about the relationship. But my recent, unrelated, departure from This Morning fuelled speculation and raised questions which have been impacting him, so for his sake it is important for me to be honest now.

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“I am painfully conscious that I have lied to my employers at ITV, to my colleagues and friends, to my agents, to the media and therefore the public and most importantly of all to my family. I am so very, very sorry, as I am for having been unfaithful to my wife.

“I have therefore decided to step down from the British Soap Awards, my last public commitment, and am resigning from ITV with immediate effect expressing my immense gratitude to them for all the amazing opportunities that they have given me.

“I will reflect on my very bad judgement in both participating in the relationship and then lying about it. To protect his privacy, I am not naming this individual and my deepest wish is that both 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.

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“I ask the media now to respect their privacy. They have done nothing wrong, and I ask that their privacy should be respected.”

Agent YMU Group statement

"Honesty and integrity are core values for YMU’s whole business, defining everything we do," Mary Bekhait, the group CEO of YMU Group, said.

"Talent management is a relationship based entirely on trust.

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"This week, we have learned important new information about our client Phillip Schofield. These facts contradicted what Phillip had previously told YMU, as well as the external advisors we had brought in to support him.

"As a result, on Thursday we agreed to part company with Phillip, with immediate effect."

Schofield’s departure from This Morning after weeks of speculation about a rift between him and co-host Holly Willoughby. After his brother Tim Schofield was found guilty of engaging in sexual conduct with a child, rumours of underlying issues between the two started to circulate.

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