Eamonn Holmes speaks out after Phillip Schofield admits he had affair with much younger male This Morning employee
EAMONN Holmes has broken his silence hours after Phillip Schofield admitted to having an affair with a much younger ITV worker.
Holmes - who has been very vocal about his former friends’ downfall - said Phillip "has finally been caught out" in a scathing Twitter rant.
It came hours after Schofield, 61 - who was axed by This Morning just last week – said he was "deeply sorry" for the “unwise, but not illegal” affair.
It’s understood the younger man - who was a teen when he met Schofield - is not a public figure and did not want the relationship to be revealed.
Schofield was still married to his wife Stephanie Lowe at the time of the affair.
In a statement, Schofield said: "I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague.
Read More on Phillip Schofield Affair
Read more on Phillip Schofield:
- Phillip Schofield admitted he had affair with a much younger male This Morning employee,
- Schofield apologised to his wife Stephanie Lowe,
- Read Schofield's statement in full,
- The star's agency revealed why they dropped him,
- Schofield resigned from ITV and stepped down from presenting the British Soap Awards,
- Eamonn Holmes launched a fresh attack on Schofield,
- ITV broke its silence on Schofield's "deceit",
- Rylan Clark shared a cryptic post hours after the affair bombshell.
"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.
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"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 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.
"I ask the media now to respect their privacy. They have done nothing wrong, and I ask that their privacy should be respected."
Schofield has been been dropped by his agent YMU, which said in a statement: “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."
Schofield said: "It is with the most profound regret that after 35 years of being faultlessly managed by YMU I have agreed to step down from their representation with immediate effect.”
Tensions soared between Phil and Eamonn's wife and fellow presenter Ruth Langsford when Phil cut her off during a segment on Loose Women.
Furious, Ruth launched an official complaint to ITV over his behaviour, and eight other employees told us that the host was "toxic".
Eamonn shared his thoughts on Phil via a newspaper supplement interview – he said: “Phillip is renowned for snubbing people. He’s very passive-aggressive.
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“It’s up to Ruth to say how she felt, but I was feeling hurt for her. No one would have snubbed me like that.”
Eamonn famously slammed This Morning and ITV after he was axed from his Friday slot.