I confronted Phillip Schofield over rumours of relationship with runner – his reply p***ed me off, says Jason Gardiner
JASON Gardiner confronted Phillip Schofield over the rumours of his relationship with a young runner on This Morning.
Phil, 61, resigned from the show last month after admitting to an “unwise but not illegal relationship”.
Jason, who had seen the runner with Phil on the Dancing On Ice set, first started to hear whispers in 2020, around the same time Phil came out as gay on the This Morning sofa.
He sent Phil a private message on Twitter.
He explained: “I went into a bit of a tailspin.
"I said, ‘I know this is a very difficult moment for you and I support you in your decision to come out, but I also feel that I need to ask you about certain rumours that are going around online and are you aware of them?’.”
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He claims Phil replied to the direct message, with one word: “Seriously?”
Jason added: “That was it. It was very dismissive and that made me uneasy because I thought, ‘I’ve reached out to you very authentically’, and it kind of really p***ed me off.”
Schofield's admission last month catapulted the show into chaos - and has left his 40-year career in tatters.
In a statement, Schofield said he's "deeply sorry" for the affair which he said was “unwise, but not illegal”.
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He said: "I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague.
"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 judgement in both participating in the relationship and then lying about it.
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"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."
