Over two years ago, an email from a former ITV staffer called for an inquiry into Phillip Schofield.
The email was received by GB News presenter Dan Wootton, who claims the whistleblower forwarded it to him after Phil admitted to having an affair with a younger male colleague while married and before to coming out as homosexual.
Phil admitted to the connection last week, apologised for lying to ITV and his colleagues and quitting from the channel with ‘immediate effect’ as a result.
His broadcasting career is now in jeopardy, since he has stepped out from presenting the British Soap Awards this weekend, and fans of This Morning have urged for the programme to be cancelled.
ITV first stated that they felt ‘badly let down’ by the broadcaster’s actions in response to Phil’s tell-all confession.
The broadcaster also claims to have investigated speculations of a relationship between Phil and the runner in 2020, but found no proof to back it up.
However, an email from the anonymous individual appears to suggest that they requested an investigation before Phil’s romance became public knowledge.
On February 10, 2020, they reportedly wrote an email to ITV CEO Carolyn McCall, but she did nothing.
Dan read an excerpt from an email he got on Tuesday night.
It read, in part: ‘With the current rumours and accusations swirling around Phillip Schofield… why is he still on our screens? Why have not suspended him pending an internal inquiry?
‘I would have thought in this day and age that a mainstream broadcaster such as ITV ought to be seen to be doing all it can to deal with issues like this, find out where the truth lies and, in the meantime, suspend those who the rumours concern?’
The email allegedly ended: ‘Come on, ITV. It’s time to take action and do the responsible thing.’
This isn’t the first time a former employee has claimed to have requested a probe into the atmosphere of This Morning.
Dr. Ranj Singh, who played a doctor on the programme before departing some years ago, has also expressed “concerns” about “toxicity.”
However, he claims that after doing so two years ago, he was’managed out’ and no longer required on screens.
When contacted for comment on the matter, an ITV spokesperson said: ‘We are sorry to read Dr Ranj’s post today. At ITV we are fully committed to providing every opportunity for anyone who works with us to raise any concern or comments they may have.
‘Following a complaint made by Dr Ranj, we appointed an external and independent advisor to carry out a review. This external review found no evidence of bullying or discrimination.’
Meanwhile, it has been reported that ITV will be grilled by MPs about Phil’s resignation from the programme.
According to reports, MPs on the House of Commons technology, culture, media, and sport select committee will question ITV executives about their treatment of his issue during a live hearing next Tuesday at 10 a.m.
According to the Daily Express, the committee has notified them that they would be asked to respond to public concerns raised by Phil’s revelations.
A previous statement from an ITV spokesperson read: ‘ITV can confirm that when rumours of a relationship between Phillip Schofield and an employee of ITV first began to circulate in early 2020 ITV investigated.
‘Both parties were questioned 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 This Morning and were not provided with, and did not find, any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour.
‘Phillip’s statement yesterday reveals that he lied to people at ITV, from senior management to fellow presenters, to YMU, to the media and to others over this relationship.’
Phillip Schofield statement in full
‘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.
‘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.
‘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.
‘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 judgment 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.
‘I ask the media now to respect their privacy. They have done nothing wrong, and I ask that their privacy should be respected.’
Source My Celebrity Life.