This Pajiba explanation was the main story last week on my links page. This Pajiba explainer was in response to the controversy that raged for weeks over ITV cohosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield. Holly and Phillip have been friends and cohosts for many years. She supported him after his marriage to a woman fell apart, and when he revealed himself as gay in 2020. There were rumors in May that Holly and Phillip were at odds, that there was a cover-up of some kind, that Phillip was behaving inappropriately with another coworker. Now we know the truth behind all those British euphemisms, and that Phillip Schofield had an inappropriate sexual relationship. Schofield was fired by ITV and everyone associated with him professionally and personally has been in a cover-up mode.

Phillip Schofield quit ITV, after admitting to having an affair with another ITV employee who was younger than him. He lied about it. The former This Morning host admitted that the affair with his younger colleague was "unwise, but not illegal". Schofield told the Daily Mail that he had "met this man as a teenager, and was asked to assist him in getting into television". He apologized for lying to his colleagues, employers and the public.

ITV's spokesperson confirmed that it was "deeply dismayed" by Schofield's admissions of deceit and confirmed the company had severed all ties with Schofield. The 61-year old will no longer be presenting the British Soap Awards in the month of May. He won't be hosting a new primetime series that ITV announced last week.

Schofield left This Morning after hearing reports about a disagreement with Holly Willoughby. He claimed that his departure from This Morning was not related to the affair he had with the colleague. The BBC hasn't named the person. At the time, the TV presenter was married to Stephanie Lowe. Schofield's coming out as gay in 2020 led to their separation.

Schofield apologized for his unfaithfulness to his wife and for lying about it to friends, colleagues, employers, agents and media. The TV host stated that he will reflect on his "very poor judgement" in participating in the relationship, and then lying about this.

ITV's spokesperson stated: "The relationships that we have with the people we work with are built on trust." Phillip gave us assurances that he has now admitted were not true. We feel very let down.

Former ITV daytime stars, such as Eamonn Wootton and Dan Wootton have said that the network needs to clarify how much it knew about this relationship and what actions they took.

[From BBC]

ITV released a second press release in which it explained that the "investigated the rumors" of the relationship in 2020, and Schofield and the much younger man denied all allegations. Holly did not comment when the story broke out on Friday. However, it is widely believed that Holly was one of the main reasons Phillip was kicked off This Morning. On Saturday, Holly posted the following on her IG Story: "It took time to process yesterday’s news." When the first reports of this relationship surfaced, Phil told me that it wasn't true. Finding out this was a lie has been very painful. Holly."

I'm sorry, I haven’t been following the drama. But I knew there was drama and it had been very secretive for several weeks. Holly must have learned about Phillip's behavior and lies a few months ago. She then began to cut ties and try to save her professional reputation. Will it work? I honestly don't know. This scandal was a well-kept secret in British media. Even some of the worst royal journalists were aware. How many Schofield's defenders are now apologetic? What did ITV know, and when?

-- Eamonn Holmes OBE (@EamonnHolmes) May 26, 2023

-- Omid Scobie (@scobie) May 27, 2023

Avalon Red Cover Images provided the photos.