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Phillip Schofield broke his silence tonight, saying he’s ‘broken and ashamed’ but not a groomer in his first interview since admitting an affair.
Schofield, 61, resigned from ITV last week and was dropped by his agency YMU after admitting to an ‘unwise, but not illegal’ affair with a younger male colleague.
The former This Morning star said the affair ‘never came across’ as an abuse of power because he and his lover were ‘mates’.
Schofield told The Sun: ‘I was unprofessional, one time, in a 41-year career. There is no excuse.
‘No one did anything wrong apart from me.’
Phillip Schofield broke his silence tonight, saying he’s ‘broken and ashamed’ but not a groomer in his first interview since admitting an affair
The former This Morning star said the affair ‘never came across’ as an abuse of power because he and his lover were ‘mates’
The man, who the Mail is not identifying, interviewed Schofield himself in the reel, which sources say was ‘made and paid for by ITV’
Pictured: Phillip Schofield and his wife Stephanie Lowe are seen with their daughters Ruby and Molly at the premiere of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald in 2018
In his first interview since leaving the broadcaster and This Morning, the 61-year-old presenter said: ‘I did not, I did not [groom him].
‘There are accusations of all sorts of things. It never came across that way because we’d become mates. I don’t know about that.
‘But of course I understand that there will be a massive judgment, but bearing in mind, I have never exercised that anywhere else.’
During the interview, Schofield was seen taking drags from a light blue vape as he answered questions about whether he had groomed his lover.
The BBC is also set to release an interview (pictured) with Schofield being grilled by Amol Rajan (right)
Phillip Schofield is seen today in London for the first time since quitting ITV and This Morning
During the interview, Schofield (pictured on This Morning with Holly Willoughby) was seen taking drags from a light blue vape as he answered questions about whether he had groomed his lover.
Schofield added his ‘greatest apology’ over the fallout from the affair was to his former lover.
He said: ‘It has brought the greatest misery into his totally innocent life, his totally innocent family, his totally innocent friends. It has brought the greatest grief to them.’
He added: ‘I am deeply sorry and I apologise to him because I should have known better. I should have acted the way I have always acted. I should not have done it.
‘I’m sorry. And I will forever be sorry. I will die sorry. I am so deeply mortified.’
Phillip Schofield said he thought it ‘looked shocking’ when an old photograph, featuring both him and the man who would later become his lover, emerged online.
Schofield had reportedly first met the man when he was 15 years old, but said the affair did not begin until he was much older and had begun working at ITV.
The BBC is also set to release an interview with Schofield being grilled by Amol Rajan.
Schofield told The Sun: ‘At the time I did not think about it possibly ruining my career. I really probably only thought about it when I saw the rumour mill, and saw it growing.
‘Then I saw the link with the drama school photo all those years before, and thought, ‘This looks shocking’.
Phillip Schofield broke his silence tonight, saying he’s ‘broken and ashamed’ but not a groomer in his first interview since admitting an affair
Earlier today Schofield was sat in the backseat of the car next to a woman believed to be his daughter Ruby
‘But I didn’t lie to protect my career, he didn’t want his name in public. He wanted his own life.’
Meanwhile, Phillip Schofield’s loyal wife has been left both furious and devastated by his admission that he had an affair with a much younger colleague during their marriage.
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Friends say that Stephanie Lowe, the mother of the presenter’s two grown-up daughters, had no idea he was in a relationship because Schofield had always described the man as a friend and colleague.
It can also be revealed that the former This Morning star’s eldest daughter Molly only found out about her father’s statement to the Daily Mail in which he admitted lying over the relationship with the man just minutes before the story broke.
Friends say that she was at work at YMU, the talent agency that represented Schofield for 35 years, when she found out.
Staff there say she was in such shock she had to be comforted before going home.
Phillip Schofield said his wife was ‘very, very angry’ after he confessed to her about his affair with a younger ITV colleague.
‘She called back and I told her. She was very, very angry.’
Meanwhile, Schofield said he and Holly Willoughby have stopped talking completely.
He said his brother’s imprisonment for child sex abuse prompted her to distance herself from him.
He said: ‘I’ve lost my best friend. I let her down. I let that entire show down. I let the viewers down.
‘Holly did not know. And she was one of the first texts that I sent, to say, ‘I am so, so sorry that I lied to you’.
‘She didn’t reply and I understand why she didn’t reply, as well. So yeah. If anyone is in any way linking Holly to this – that is absolutely, wholly untrue.’
