Phillip Schofield says his career is over following affair

Phillip Schofield has said helium has "lost everything" and does not spot a aboriginal for his career, successful an affectional and frank interrogation with BBC News.

After fleeing waiting paparazzi extracurricular his house, helium sat down with Amol Rajan to archer his broadside of the story.

Schofield said his "career is over" following the affair helium had with a young antheral colleague.

He said the brace were "not boyfriends" and they lone had 5 oregon six romanticist encounters implicit a fewer months.

However, Schofield said the matter "was a sedate error", adding: "I shouldn't person done it."

The TV presenter appeared exhausted and distressed, and spoke softly arsenic helium said helium was "desperately sorry".

Questions person been raised astir ITV's handling of the situation, however overmuch bosses knew of the affair, and whether its ain probe went acold enough.

Following the controversy, Schofield said helium doubted helium would instrumentality to a vocation successful TV. "I person to speech astir tv successful the past tense, which breaks my heart," helium said. "I person mislaid everything.

"What americium I going to bash with my days?" helium continued. I spot thing up of maine but blackness, and sadness, and regret, and remorse, and guilt. I did thing precise wrong, and past I lied astir it consistently."

Referring to his erstwhile colleague, the 61-year-old said: "He is an guiltless enactment here. I was older, I should person known better. [The affair] was consensual, but it was my fault."

In a elaborate interrogation astir the affair, Schofield told the BBC:

Schofield paid tribute to his daughters, who helium said had helped him header with suicidal thoughts successful caller days.

"Last week, if my daughters hadn't been there, I wouldn't beryllium here," helium said. "They've been by my broadside each infinitesimal due to the fact that they're frightened to fto maine retired of their sight."

Schofield explained his archetypal romanticist brushwood with his workfellow took spot successful his dressing room, adding determination were lone 5 oregon six specified encounters successful full betwixt the brace implicit a fewer months.

"I afloat admit determination is simply a monolithic property gap, but that happens successful life. I deliberation determination is an tremendous magnitude of homophobia that it happens to beryllium male, but if it was male-female past it wouldn't beryllium specified a scandal," Schofield said.

His admittance of the matter raised questions astir the powerfulness equilibrium betwixt the brace and whether oregon not Schofield had taken vantage of his position.

"I recognize that, and it's a precise valid question to enactment to me," Schofield said. "If it's an maltreatment of power, it's not successful my quality to beryllium that person, but of people it could beryllium perceived arsenic that. But that wasn't however it felt astatine the time."

ITV has instructed a barrister to transportation retired an outer reappraisal to found the facts astir however ITV handled its ain probe into rumours of the matter successful 2020.

The network's main enforcement Dame Carolyn McCall has been asked to be the Culture, Media and Sport Committee connected 14 June to reply questions astir the broadcaster's attack to safeguarding pursuing the controversy.

Schofield confirmed helium archetypal met the antheral helium would spell connected to person an matter with erstwhile helium was invited to look arsenic portion of an lawsuit astatine a play schoolhouse galore years ago.

He and the antheral began communicating connected Twitter aft they followed each different pursuing the event. Schofield said the antheral asked for proposal connected moving successful the TV industry.

The presenter characterised their connection arsenic a "completely guiltless backwards-and-forwards implicit a play of time, astir a job, astir careers".

"What's incorrect with that?" helium asked. "What's incorrect with talking to idiosyncratic nary substance what property they are, does that mean if you're pursuing anyone connected Twitter that you don't springiness advice?"

He continued: "I've done it each my life. I'm champion friends with the radical who got maine into television, and I've ever believed successful paying it forward, truthful I didn't deliberation astir it."

Schofield noted helium follows 11,300 radical connected Twitter, which helium nary longer uses, and determination had ne'er been "any whiff of impropriety" during his clip connected the societal media platform.

When the brace met successful idiosyncratic for the archetypal clip since the play schoolhouse event, Schofield said determination was "absolutely not" immoderate hint of intersexual attraction.

But Schofield said their interactions turned romanticist "a fewer months" aft the antheral began moving connected This Morning.

"We go mates," Schofield said. "And, you know, you spell astir studios, you bent retired together, you know, chat to each other, that benignant of stuff.

"In my dressing country 1 day, thing happened," helium said. Characterising the affair, Schofield said: "I kissed idiosyncratic successful the workplace, which led connected to a small spot more."

The TV presenter said helium got the antheral jobs connected different shows helium worked connected "because helium was a precise bully runner, and it's ever bully to person a squad astir you of radical that you know".

He confirmed that his This Morning co-star Holly Willoughby "did not know" astir the affair, adding: "Nobody knew.

"Rumours started, and past you lie. When you've had a workplace fling, you prevarication astir it," helium said.

ITV antecedently said it investigated reports of a relationship, but that some parties had repeatedly denied it.

Asked however overmuch his colleagues knew, Schofield said: "Nobody ever asked maine astir being gay. When the rumour [about the affair] got bigger, past we were some asked."

Asked if helium loved his erstwhile colleague, Schofield said "No, we were conscionable mates," aboriginal adding: "We weren't boyfriends, we weren't successful a relationship."

The TV presenter added helium "absolutely did not" marque the antheral motion a non-disclosure statement and said helium would beryllium escaped to talk to the media if helium wanted to.

Schofield added that, contrary to immoderate property reports, the antheral was not regularly taken by taxis betwixt Schofield's London location and the This Morning studios.

"He didn't often travel to my flat, helium came to the level once, to my recollection, helium didn't enactment over," helium said.

Schofield besides denied helium had organised for the antheral to beryllium moved disconnected This Morning to enactment connected different ITV daytime programme erstwhile their narration ended.

"Absolutely categorically not - helium was a truly bully workfellow and runner, precise good. He applied to spell to [another ITV programme] and got the occupation wholly connected his ain merits," helium said.

Last week, Schofield went nationalist astir the affair, a determination helium said helium took due to the fact that "the prevarication got excessively large for some of us".

"It conscionable got enormous, and it crossed implicit from online to mainstream news, and that had to stop, for his intelligence health," helium said.

Earlier this week, Schofield was dropped arsenic an ambassador for the Prince's Trust successful airy of the controversy, thing the TV prima said "broke my heart".

Asked however his erstwhile workfellow feels now, Schofield said: "What helium wants is for each of this [media coverage] to spell away, helium wants a quiescent life, helium didn't privation immoderate of this to hap successful the archetypal place."

Schofield said helium past spoke to him "a mates of weeks ago" erstwhile helium engaged ineligible enactment for him, which helium is continuing to wage for.

The TV presenter said helium was "massively concerned" for the payment of his erstwhile colleague, who helium described arsenic "vulnerable".

He denied reports that determination is a toxic situation connected This Morning, arsenic good arsenic claims that helium had go excessively almighty oregon was unpleasant to enactment with. "I'm not rude connected the workplace floor, I don't bully people," helium said.

Schofield besides emphatically denied a assertion that a paper had done a woody with him and his absorption successful 2019, wherever the media outlet allegedly agreed not to constitute the communicative astir the young antheral successful instrumentality for the exclusive interrogation astir him coming retired arsenic gay.

"Absolutely categorically untrue," Schofield said, adding that helium was encouraged to bash an interrogation with the Sun by a media advisor arsenic portion of his announcement.

Schofield said telling his woman Stephanie Lowe astir his matter "was the astir hard speech I've ever had to person with her".

He added: "She is highly disappointed due to the fact that I lied to her arsenic well".

If you're affected by immoderate of the issues successful this nonfiction you tin find details of organisations who tin assistance via the BBC Action Line.