Former This Morning guest Dr Ranj Singh, has encouraged viewers to be ‘mindful’ of Phillip Schofield, claiming he’s ‘not in an easy place’.
Schofield, 61, stood down from the ITV show after more than 20 years, before resigned from the network and leaving all projects after admitting his ‘unwise but not unlawful’ romance with a considerably younger staffer.
His shocking admission came amid rumours that Holly Willoughby, 42, and her then-co-presenter, with whom she had been seeing since 2009, were ‘barely communicating’ and that their relationship had deteriorated behind the scenes.
Holly subsequently confessed she was’shaken, worried, let down, and full of questions,’ while Schofield revealed shocking details in interviews with The Sun and the BBC.
He said he ‘wouldn’t be here’ if it weren’t for his girls, and he didn’t think he’d ever work in television again.
‘I’ve lost everything. It’s all gone,’ he told The Sun frankly.
Schofield further stated that he no longer knows what his “identity” is and that he is in a “really awful place.”
‘Mentally, utterly, utterly broken,’ he told the outlet. ‘I think when you’ve caused this damage, you can expect nothing. It’s my fault. I completely understand.’
Weeks later, Dr Ranj has now echoed those thoughts, saying everyone needs to be ‘careful when we are responding to people like that, that we don’t go too far.’
He continued to MailOnline: ‘I never agree with trolling ever – I don’t think it’s acceptable. I don’t necessarily agree with what has happened with Phillip and what he has done, and as Carolyn McCall has said, it was inappropriate, but I think we have to careful when we are responding to people like that, that we don’t go too far.
‘I agree it’s not an easy place to be for him, and we have to be mindful of that.
‘He’s still a human-being and has feelings and it’s not an easy thing to be on the other side of that.
‘I think we all need to all be a bit more mindful about how we interact with each other.’
He added that his previous comments about ‘bullying’ claims against ITV were not linked to Schofield, and that he has not yet ‘reached out’.
‘What I spoke about was nothing to do with him,’ Dr Ranj added to the publication.
Following Schofield’s resignation, Dr Ranj delivered many bombshells about the programme, claiming a ‘toxic’ atmosphere and claiming he expressed issues when working at ITV, only to feel’managed out’ for doing so.
He said he had ‘genuinely loved and valued’ working at ITV but had become ‘increasingly worried about how things were behind-the-scenes and how people, including myself, were being treated.’
‘I even took my concerns directly to the top of ITV: the culture at This Morning had become toxic, no longer aligned with ITV values, and I felt like because I whistle-blew I was managed out,’ he said.
‘The whole process was heart-breaking and even affected my mental health. But I’m happy to say I’ve found my feet again, know my worth and have found my tribe…
‘There are some good people in TV, but we need to be brave and stand up to those who aren’t. Even if it’s scary as hell, we have to do the right thing otherwise nothing will change.’
In a letter to culture secretary Lucy Frazer, DCMS Committee chair Dame Caroline Dinenage, and Ofcom’s top executive Dame Melanie Dawes, ITV head Dame Carolyn McCall stated that an external assessment performed in response to Dr Ranj’s allegation found “no evidence of bullying or prejudice.”
Dame Carolyn later addressed the cultural accusations on This Morning, which Eamonn Holmes has also criticised, during a government committee grilling.
MPs questioned the TV executive about her awareness of the connection, as well as her response to charges of ‘toxicity’ at This Morning.
Asked about the charges about the culture at the long-running programme, she replied: ‘What I would say is that it’s not something that we take that seriously.
‘What I know is that when we talk about culture it’s incredibly important to me, personally and so it deeply disappoints me, right?
‘But we do not recognise that in This Morning and the reason for that is that we have tangible evidence to tell you that the vast majority of people at daytime and at This Morning are engaged.
‘That’s not to say we don’t take complaints about it seriously. We’ve had two complaints in five years about that issue. Both of them taken very seriously.’
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1.
Source My Celebrity Life.
