This Morning presenter Alison Hammond became emotional as she said she “still loves Phillip Schofield” following the revelations about his affair with a younger male colleague.
Hammond was speaking on the ITV morning show when she said she had been “finding it really painful” after Schofield spoke publicly about the affair.
She added: “However, what he has done is wrong. He’s admitted it, he’s said sorry.
“As a family we’re really struggling to process everything. I never know what to say, but I remember what my mum said.
“My mum always said, use your bible as your satnav in life. In the bible it says ‘he without sin casts the first stone’.
“I don’t want to say anything bad because obviously I’m in conflict.”
She added later: “There’s only so much a man can take, and I don’t want any death in this situation.”
Her comments may be referring to remarks made by Schofield where he said he had been left feeling suicidal by the fallout from the affair.
Hammond now presents This Morning alongside Dermot O’Leary after Schofield stepped down following revelations about his affair with a man who he first met when he was 15.
Schofield says he was not in a relationship with him until the man was 20 years old.
The story has had a lot of press attention in recent days and ITV has launched an external review to establish the facts around the relationship between Schofield and his former colleague.
Regular This Morning host Gyles Brandreth said on the show today: “It’s a human story but with public implications, and the point is the public implications, to do with broadcasting, workplace rules, regulations, good behaviour – that is going to be dealt with by the review and we’ll learn the consequences of that.
“At the same time we are dealing with a human being that all of us here have known and liked over many years, so it makes it difficult for us.
Hammond and Brandreth’s remarks come after Schofield gave interviews to the BBC and The Sun about the scandal.
Schofield has said his “career is over” after he confirmed the affair with a younger male colleague – but insisted he did not groom him.
In an interview with The Sun, he said he felt “utterly broken and ashamed” and told the paper he will “die sorry”.
He added his “greatest apology” over the fallout from the affair was to his former lover.
In the interviews published today, Schofield also revealed:
• He has had suicidal thoughts since the scandal broke and likened his situation to what Caroline Flack faced before her death
• The first romantic encounter between the presenter and employee happened in Schofield’s dressing room – and the man was 20 when they first had any sexual contact
• The pair had five or six romantic encounters – Schofield denied the man was driven from ITV studios to his London home in taxis paid for by ITV
• He thinks ITV bosses should have completed a more thorough investigation in 2020
• Co-star Holly Willoughby did not know about the affair
