ITV boss to face MPs’ questions over Phillip Schofield’s This Morning exit

ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall will face questions from MPs about the scandal surrounding This Morning after Phillip Schofield’s controversial exit from the programme.

Shortly after his initial exit from This Morning amid a rumoured feud with co-presenter Holly Willoughby, Schofield admitted to lying about his affair with a former runner of the show in 2020 in a statement to the Daily Mail.

Schofield resigned from ITV and stepped down as the host of the British Soap Awards on 26 May, with the presenter being replaced by Jane McDonald.

Now, McCall is set to appear before a session of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee today to give evidence about how much ITV bosses knew regarding the situation.

ICYMI: Phillip Schofield has denied “grooming” the ITV colleague with whom he had an affair while working together on This Morning, in his first sit-down interview to address the scandal.

In the interview with the BBC’s Amol Rajan, Schofield appeared distraught and exhausted as he reflected on the fallout from the revelations of the past month, comparing the backlash to the one received by late Love Island presenter Caroline Flack, and asked: “How much are you supposed to take?”
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For more than four decades, the former This Morning presenter was synonymous with bulletproof affability, writes Ed Power. It’s only made his cataclysmic fall from grace that much more surprising.

Holly Willoughby was “shaken” and “troubled” by her former co-host Phillip Schofield’s admission that he lied about an affair with a This Morning employee, the TV presenter has said.

The 42-year-old made her return to the popular ITV daytime show on Monday 5 June, two weeks after Schofield, 61, resigned from the programme.

Schofield stepping down was initially believed to be the result of a growing feud with Willoughby, with whom he had presented This Morning for the past 14 years.

However, days after he quit the programme, he sensationally admitted to lying about having an affair with a much younger male employee. He was subsequently dropped by his agent, YMU, and resigned from ITV altogether.

Willoughby has not been seen on the ITV programme since Thursday 18 May, two days before Schofield’s departure from the show was announced, as she was on a scheduled holiday for half term.

This Morning is looking for a new producer to join the programme.

The role is unrelated to former presenter Phillip Schofield who dramatically parted ways with ITV earlier this month and then admitted to lying about an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a much younger colleague.

He was subsequently dropped by his agent and also resigned from ITV, whose bosses said they were “badly let down” by the presenter.

According to Variety, the job pays £40,000 to £50,000 per year. A source told the publication that they are seeking someone to “replace someone who was promoted”, adding that the advertisement “has been live for some weeks”.

According to the LinkedIn job description that the publication cites, ITV is looking for a producer who “thrives on the buzz” of live television and has an “abundance of ideas” to support anchor Holly Willoughby.