Morninggate - Deadline: ITV Sets Out Timeline Of How It Dealt With Rumors Of ‘This Morning’ Host Phillip Schofield’s “Deeply Inappropriate” Relationship With Young Runner

Story from Deadline:

ITV has provided a timeline of how it responded to rumors of This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield’s relationship with a younger runner three years before the story burst into the public domain.

The broadcaster gave evidence to UK Parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee on Wednesday morning, with CEO Carolyn McCall saying she welcomed the opportunity to put right “misinformation” about a scandal that has dominated headlines in Britain.

Schofield, one of the UK’s best-known presenters, stepped down as the host of This Morning last month and later admitted to having a relationship with a younger runner, referred to as Person X in ITV’s evidence to lawmakers.

The relationship was the source of rampant speculation at ITV and there have been questions about how senior managers could not have known about Schofield’s potential abuse of power.

McCall — flanked by content chief Kevin Lygo and general counsel Kyla Mullins — tackled this question from the outset of the parliamentary hearing, providing a detailed insight into how it kept rumors of the relationship under review and repeatedly questioned Schofield and Person X.

Scroll on for ITV’s timeline of events:

2015:

At the age of 19, Person X secured a work experience placement on This Morning after first meeting Phillip Schofield at the opening of a theatre school years earlier. There are conflicting accounts of when this first encounter took place, but The Daily Mail has reported that Person X was 15 at the time.

Schofield passed Person X’s details on to a contact at ITV. Person X then filled out a work placement form, on which he described Schofield as a “family friend.”

ITV’s Kyla Mullins said the broadcaster offers work experience to 50 to 60 people on its daytime shows and the description of Schofield as a family friend did not raise “alarm bells” because it is not unusual.

2016:

Person X was offered his first contract on This Morning following work experience spells. He was aged 20 at the time.

Schofield has previously told the BBC that his first sexual contact with Person X occurred in his dressing room when the individual was aged 20.

Mullins said Person X was well-regarded by the This Morning team and was seen as a talented individual. Kevin Lygo, ITV’s Managing Director of Media and Entertainment, added that he was in demand and other presenters wanted to work with him.

CEO Carolyn McCall said Person X was not a “personal runner” to Schofield and no such position exists within ITV’s daytime teams.

2019:

Person X sought a promotion to researcher on This Morning, but failed to secure a new role. He later applied to transfer to another role on Loose Women, a separate ITV daytime show. Of 29 candidates, he was successful and switched shows, meaning he was no longer working closely with Schofield on This Morning.

December 2019:

Dan Wootton, a former ITV daytime presenter, publishes a story in The Sun headlined: ‘Phillip Schofield sparks civil war at This Morning after relationship with Holly becomes strained & Ruth makes complaint.’

The article makes reference to Schofield’s “personal runner” leaving This Morning to join Loose Women, another ITV daytime show. Wootton reported that Person X had a “close friendship” with Schofield.

Mullins said ITV Studios’ head of daytime (Emma Gormley) and head of production (Alice Gairdner) questioned Person X following the report because it sparked a “huge amount of media speculation” and he was being “inundated” with queries from journalists.

“We asked the question at that stage: ‘Is there any truth in this? Is there anything that we need to know about your relationship with Philip Schofield?’ The answer was a categorical no. He was traumatized by the intrusion in his personal life and our focus at that point then moved swiftly to duty of care for him.”

January 2020:

HR became involved in offering support for Person X and there was “continued” dialog with the individual.

ITV HR logs show that Person X was asked 12 times about his relationship with Schofield. “At each stage, he categorically denied it,” Mullins said. He was also offered a confidential route to report concerns, as well as the services of a counselor.

At the same time, Mullins said there were “serious conversations” with Schofield and his agent at YMU. Schofield also strenuously denied rumors about the relationship.

This Morning and Loose Women production staff were also questioned about their understanding of the matter. “No one came forward with any evidence,” Mullins added.

Lygo argued that those who have heavily criticized ITV over the Schofield scandal, such as former presenters Eamonn Holmes and Dan Wootton, had an opportunity to report the relationship.

“There was never any complaint from them while they were here,” Lygo said. “If they wanted anything, it was: ‘More work, please. We love it here.’”

February 2020:

Lygo said he first became aware of the rumors around the time that Schofield made a decision to come out as gay on the This Morning sofa in February 2020.

Lygo was on set for the announcement and remembered Schofield being “really agitated and nervous.” He recalled the exchange they had during a quiet moment together before the show went live.

Lygo said to the presenter: “Look, you don’t have to do this now if you don’t want to do this.”

Schofield replied: “No, this is absolutely the right thing to do. I’ve been thinking about this, this isn’t a sudden decision. I’ve been talking about this to my family, this is just the moment that I want to do it.”

Lygo said: “Don’t worry about ITV supporting you through this, it’s fine by us if you want to do it. Is there anything you want to tell me now? Is there anything we should know that has prompted this? It’s fine, but we just don’t want to suddenly… hear something we didn’t know about and be blindsided by it.”

According to Lygo, Schofield said: “There’s nothing. This is just a private matter and I want to get it out there.”

March 2020:

McCall said the Schofield story was stopped in its tracks by the pandemic. All ITV employees were sent home because of the national lockdown and Person X was put on furlough for nine months.

Over this period, ITV remained in contact with Person X and had “duty of care conversations with him, but nothing else.”

McCall said: “We had done [our job], we feel, from a process perspective, but also from a human perspective. We asked [about the relationship] multiple times of both individuals, both formally and informally.”

“We had no evidence, no one brought us anything tangible, either on the production floor or from the outside. There was only hearsay and rumor and speculation.”

She added that ITV did not carry out an “investigation,” but it was an “ongoing review” that swung into action every time there was a period of “intense speculation.”

May 19, 2023:

After a flurry of press reports about a breakdown in the friendship between Schofield and his long-time co-host Holly Willoughby, the presenter stepped down from This Morning.

Lygo said this was his decision, but in his statement at the time, Schofield said: “ITV has decided the current situation can’t go on.”

Lygo said he again attempted to establish if there were any truth in the rumors about his tryst with Person X. Schofield “looked at me in the eye” and said there was nothing in the allegations, Lygo revealed. He again took Schofield at his word and made a public commitment to continue working with the presenter.

McCall said she phoned Schofield to acknowledge that it was a “difficult” decision to leave This Morning. The ITV CEO said he was “really grateful” for the call.

May 26, 2023:

Schofield drops the bombshell that he had indeed had a relationship with Person X. He penned an extraordinary meal culpa in The Daily Mail, in which he admitted to lying about the relationship to ITV, his agent, and the media. He was dropped by ITV and his agent.

May 31, 2023:

ITV appoints barrister Jane Mulcahy KC to carry out a review of the facts surrounding the incident. “The relationships we have with those we work with are based on trust. Phillip made assurances to us and his agency which he now acknowledges were untrue and we feel badly let down,” McCall said at the time.

June 2023:

Schofield gives interviews to the BBC and The Sun in which he admits to feeling suicidal over concealing “my biggest sorriest secret.”

McCall told lawmakers that she is “very concerned” for the welfare of Schofield and Person X. She added that Schofield has been “hounded” by the media over the scandal.

“He sent me a text saying he was deeply sorry,” McCall revealed.

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