Philip Scofield: Holly Willoughby says she was hurt by amorous lies

Holly Willoughby said it was “extremely painful” to discover that former fellow host Philip Scofield had lied about his relationship with a much younger colleague.

In a statement, Willoughby said: “When reports of this relationship first came out, I asked Phil directly if this was true and he was told it wasn’t.

“It hurt so much now to know that was a lie.”

Writing on Instagram, Willoughby added that he “took the time to process yesterday’s news.”

The duo presented This Morning together on ITV for 14 years until Schofield’s exit last week.

Some former ITV daily personalities, such as Eamon Holmes and Dan Wootton, said the revelations raised questions about how much the network’s managers knew about the case.

Earlier on Saturday, ITV said it had investigated rumors of an affair between Scofield and a younger employee in 2020 – but both have “repeatedly denied it”.

An ITV spokesperson said: “Further to our statement last night, ITV can confirm that when rumors of an affair between Philip Schofield and an ITV employee first began circulating in early 2020, ITV investigated.

Both parties were questioned and both rumors were categorically and repeatedly denied, as did Phillip’s then agency YMU.

Additionally, ITV spoke to a number of people who worked on This Morning and were not provided, and found, no evidence of a relationship beyond rumor and hearsay.

“Philip’s statement yesterday reveals that he lied to people at ITV, from senior management to fellow presenters, to YMU, to the media and others about this relationship.”

Scofield issued a statement to the Daily Mail on Friday, saying, “I had an on and off consensual relationship with a much younger male colleague this morning.”

He was still married to his wife Stephanie Lowe at the time of the affair. They divorced in 2020, after he came out as gay.

Scofield said he was “very, very sorry” for being unfaithful to his wife, and for lying to colleagues, agents, employers, friends, the media, the public, and his family about the relationship.

He continued, “Contrary to speculation, while I met the man as a teenager and was asked to help him get into television, it was after he started working on the show that it became more than friendship.”

He also said that it would “reflect on my very poor judgment both in being involved in the relationship and then lying about it”.

This followed rumors circulating on social media over several months about Scofield’s personal relationships.