ITV’s This Morning is sensationally set to be axed, it is being reported tonight, with bosses believing it has been “tarnished beyond repair” after Phillip Schofield admitted he lied about a relationship with a young male colleague. Senior producers reportedly fear a number of regular presenters may be contemplating leaving the “sinking ship” in light of the bombshell revelations made on Friday. And one of This Morning’s household names, it is claimed, drafted a resignation statement hours after the programme’s former host publicly admitted to having lied about having the affair while still married to his wife. However, ITV told Express.co.uk tonight that the show was safe with its future “not under review”.
The Mirror, though, is reporting that ITV chief executive Carolyn McCall is looking to scrap the show, believing it is now “toxic”.
Meanwhile, a source told the Sun on Sunday: “The future of the show is hanging by a thread and the presenting talent are unsure of their next move – they’re deciding whether to leap from a sinking ship.
“The whole This Morning senior team is in complete damage-limitation mode worrying about the presenters who might walk away.”
Some hosts, the source added, feel his admission – which came after days of speculation regarding a strained relationship between Mr Schofield and his long-time co-host Holly Willoughby – may have made the programme too toxic to survive.
The insider added: “There is lots of talk behind the scenes that they are consider axing This Morning altogether, and replacing it with a new look format and a new name for the show.”
Contacted by Express.co.uk, an ITV spokesperson denied the programme is under review, however, insisting: “As we said on the record earlier today, This Morning is not under review and there’s no plans for the show to be axed. This Morning will return on Monday.”
Rumours of the relationship between Mr Schofield and the male colleague had first begun to circulate in 2020, ITV said in a statement, but when the broadcaster interviewed them they both “repeatedly denied” the affair.
The broadcaster said: “Further to our statement last night, ITV can confirm that when rumours of a relationship between Phillip Schofield and an employee of ITV first began to circulate in early 2020 ITV investigated. Both parties were questioned and both categorically and repeatedly denied the rumours as did Phillip’s then agency YMU.
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“In addition, ITV spoke to a number of people who worked on This Morning and were not provided with, and did not find, any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour.
“Phillip’s statement yesterday reveals that he lied to people at ITV, from senior management to fellow presenters, to [Mr Schofield’s agent] YMU, to the media and to others over this relationship.”
Ms Willoughby spoke on Saturday evening for the first time since Mr Schofield released his bombshell statement.
Taking to Instagram, the host said: “It has taken time to process yesterday’s news. When reports of this relationship first surfaced, I asked Phil directly if this was true and was told it was not.
“It’s been very hurtful to now find out that this was a lie.”
Her veteran co-host quit ITV on Friday, when he admitted to have been in a “consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning”. The relationship, he said, was “unwise, but not illegal” and is now over.
Admitting he had previously lied about his affair, he said in the past he hadn’t been “truthful” to protect the now ex-colleague, before adding: “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.”