Topics: Celebrity, TV And Film, This Morning, Phillip Schofield, Holly Willoughby
In one of his first public interviews about his affair, Phillip Schofield has revealed that he no longer speaks to Holly Willoughby.
The pair had been the golden couple of daytime TV, working on This Morning for over 14 years as well as on Dancing on Ice.
Amid the fallout from Schofield's affair with a younger colleague, he also apologised to his former co-host.
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The 61-year-old made the admission last week in a statement to the Daily Mail, revealing that he’d had a consensual relationship with a male younger colleague at This Morning.
He went on to state that the relationship has been ‘unwise, but not illegal’ and stated that the affair was ‘now over’.
The statement also confirmed that the presenter would be stepping down from other ITV projects, just days after he’d left This Morning.
It also resulted in the former daytime TV host being dropped by his managed team, YMU Group, who said: "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 advisors we had brought in to support him.
"As a result, on Thursday we agreed to part company with Phillip, with immediate effect."
Now, Schofield has revealed that he is no longer in contact with his former co-host, Holly Willoughby.
In a new interview with The Sun, he admitted that they are no longer in contact, despite his apology, with Willoughby distancing herself from him.
“I’ve lost my best friend. I let her down [Holly]. I let that entire show down. I let the viewers down,” Schofield confessed. “Holly did not know [about the romance]. And she was one of the first texts that I sent, to say, ‘I am so, so sorry that I lied to you’.”
The former presenter added that Willoughby didn’t respond to his texts and that he understood why she remained silent.
“She didn’t reply and I understand why she didn’t reply, as well. If anyone is in any way linking Holly to this; that is absolutely, wholly untrue,” he said.
“I had no feud with Holly. She is my TV sister,” he added. “But quite rightly, when I am in the middle of a s**t show with bad press over something where I have done nothing wrong - in fact, I did everything right - it’s a witch hunt. And that strips that [friendship] away.”
Schofield also stated that he thought Willoughby would take some time away from This Morning.
He said: “Quite rightly, she is going to take a step back and think, ‘I have to step back from this’, and I understand that completely."
“As we see now, this is a vicious game and the last thing you want is for something to stick on you."
“It was becoming bigger than the people we had on the show. I understand that.”
Tyla has reached out to Holly Willoughby’s representatives for comment.
