Phillip Schofield's co-star Holly Willoughby has released a statement following his decision to confess to having had an affair with a younger male employee at ITV.
Taking to her Instagram Stories, she confessed to feeling hurt, saying that Phillip had lied to her about his relationship. In the statement, she said: "It's 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 find out that was a lie. Holly."
The This Morning star had previously thanked her former co-star when he left the show last week, writing: "Hi everyone…It's been over 13 great years presenting This Morning with Phil and I want to take the opportunity to thank him for all of his knowledge, his experience and his humour. The sofa won't feel the same without him."
READ: Is Holly Willoughby returning to This Morning following Phillip Schofield drama - and when?
Phillip confessed to the affair on Friday in a lengthy statement published in the MailOnline. ITV has also released statements since Phillip's confession of the affair, saying the corporation was "deeply disappointed" by the 61-year-old's "admissions of deceit". The channel also said it had undertaken an investigation at the time of the relationship, but both parties had "denied" it.
Phillip's former This Morning co-star, Eamonn Holmes also said that the presenter had "lied" to him about the affair. ""Ruth and I deceived and lied to," he tweeted. "One day I will tell the story. We had no issue with him being gay, only support. What transpired took us for fools. The man told us complete lies and we unfortunately believed him."
In his statement after confessing to the affair, Phillip wrote: "I am making this statement via the Daily Mail to whom I have already apologised personally for misleading, through my lawyer who I also misled, about a story which they wanted to write about me a few days ago. The first thing I want to say is: I am deeply sorry for having lied to them, and to many others about a relationship that I had with someone working on This Morning.
"I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning. Contrary to speculation, whilst I met the man when he was a teenager and was asked to help him to get into television, it was only after he started to work on the show that it became more than just a friendship. That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over.
"When I chose to come out I did so entirely for my own wellbeing. Nobody 'forced' me out. Neither I nor anyone else, to my knowledge, has ever issued an injunction, super or otherwise, about my relationship with this colleague, he was never moved on or sacked by or because of me."
© Ken McKay/ITV/ShutterstockHe continued: "In an effort to protect my ex-colleague I haven't been truthful about the relationship. But my recent, unrelated, departure from This Morning fuelled speculation and raised questions which have been impacting him, so for his sake it is important for me to be honest now. 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."
MORE: Holly Willoughby's statement about Phillip Schofield confuses This Morning fans
READ: Eamonn Holmes takes aim at Holly Willoughby after revealing Phillip Schofield 'was sacked'
Revealing his departure from ITV, he concluded: "I have therefore decided to step down from the British Soap Awards, my last public commitment, and am resigning from ITV with immediate effect expressing my immense gratitude to them for all the amazing opportunities that they have given me. I will reflect on my very bad judgement in both participating in the relationship and then lying about it.
"To protect his privacy, I am not naming this individual and my deepest wish is that both he and his family can now move on with their lives free from further intrusion, and that this statement will enable them to do so. I ask the media now to respect their privacy. They have done nothing wrong, and I ask that their privacy should be respected."
Keep up with the latest celebrity stories Sign up to our HELLO! Mail newsletter and get them delivered straight to your inbox.
