]Phillip Schofield has been left heartbroken after being dropped by The Prince's Trust following the confession he had an affair with a young male colleague and lied to cover it up. The Prince's Trust, founded by King Charles in 1976, has a number of celebrity ambassadors who support the charity, which helps disadvantaged young people find employment.
The Trust confirmed on May 30 that they had agreed with Philip to part ways. However, the former This Morning presenter has now shared, in his first interview, that he is "utterly, utterly broken," and admitted that if "it hadn’t been for my girls last week I wouldn’t be here".
© Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock“I can’t go out. I don’t think a charity will want to be associated with me," he told The Sun.
"I got dropped by The Prince’s Trust, which I understand, but it broke my heart. I’ve lost everything. It’s all gone. Telly was my safe space, the one thing I loved. Now I don’t know if I will ever work on telly again."
He also insisted that he "did not groom" the young man whom he had the affair with, and that their friendship developed into romance.
"There are accusations of all sorts of things. It never came across that way (as an abuse of power) because we’d become mates. I don’t know about that," he added.
Phillip, 61, confessed to the affair in a statement to the Daily Mail last Friday after announcing his departure from the breakfast show after more than 20 years.
In the statement, he said: "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."
© ShutterstockHe continued: "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."
ITV said it was "deeply disappointed by the admissions of deceit" made by Phillip and confirmed it had cut all ties with the host.
The network said it had investigated rumours of a relationship between the presenter and a younger employee in 2020 - but both "repeatedly denied" it.
