Phillip Schofield quits ITV after presenter admits lying over affair

New statement comes after Schofield stood down from ITV’s This Morning amid reports of rift with co-presenter Holly Willoughby

Phillip Schofield has stepped down from ITV after admitting lying about an affair with a colleague on This Morning.

The presenter has also been dropped by his agency, less than a week after he dramatically quit the show he presented alongside Holly Willoughby amid rumours of a feud between the two.

In a statement to the Daily Mail, Schofield said: “I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning.

“In an effort to protect my ex-colleague I haven’t been truthful about the relationship.

“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.”

Schofield went on to confirm he had stood down from ITV altogether following the row.

His admissions came shortly after he released a statement confirming he had stepped down from his agency YMU.

“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,” he said.

The agency confirmed on Friday that it had “parted company” with the presenter.

Schofield had presented This Morning alongside Holly Willoughby (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

Mary Bekhait, the group chief executive of YMU Group, said: “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.

“These facts contradicted what Phillip had previously told YMU, as well as the external advisers we had brought in to support him.

“As a result, on Thursday we agreed to part company with Phillip, with immediate effect.”

It comes after Schofield was said to be “utterly heartbroken” to have left This Morning. He announced he was quitting his presenting role on the ITV show last Saturday.

His brother, Timothy Schofield, was sentenced to 12 years in jail the day before, following his conviction on child sex offences.

Days after Schofield said he was leaving This Morning, Piers Morgan, who used to present ITV’s Good Morning Britain, wrote an op-ed for The Sun, admitting he found the aftermath of Schofield’s exit “brutal to watch” and yet “entirely unsurprising”.