Phillip Schofield has confessed how his affair with a younger colleague first started, insisting that ‘nobody knew’ what was going on.
After stepping down from This Morning last month, Schofield, 61, admitted to having an affair with a male colleague while still married to his wife.
As part of the fallout, he was dropped by his talent agency and dropped from the Prince’s Trust as an ambassador.
In a new interview with the BBC, Schofield has revealed how the ‘workplace fling’ came about, saying when the pair first met in person since a drama school event, there was ‘absolutely not’ any hint of sexual attraction.
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However, ‘a few months’ after the younger man started working on This Morning, their interactions turned romantic.
"We become mates," Schofield said.
"And, you know, you go around studios, you hang out together, you know, chat to each other, that sort of stuff.
"In my dressing room one day, something happened."
He added: "I kissed someone in the workplace, which led on to a little bit more."
Over time, Schofield said he got the man jobs on other shows he worked on, saying: “Because he was a very good runner, and it's always nice to have a team around you of people that you know.”
But he confirmed that his longtime co-star Holly Willoughby ‘did not know’ about the affair.
"Nobody knew,” he said.
"Rumours started, and then you lie. When you've had a workplace fling, you lie about it.”
Schofield argued that he and the colleague were ‘not boyfriends’, claiming they only had five or six romantic encounters over the course of a few months.
However, he accepted the affair ‘was a grave error’, saying: "I shouldn't have done it."
Schofield said he has been coping with suicidal thoughts in the wake of the scandal breaking out, paying tribute to his daughters for helping him through the dark period.
"Last week, if my daughters hadn't been there, I wouldn't be here," he said.
"They've been by my side every moment because they're scared to let me out of their sight."
He now believes his ‘career is over’, saying he doubts he will return to TV.
"I have to talk about television in the past tense, which breaks my heart," he said.
"I have lost everything."
ITV said it investigated reports of Schofield’s affair, but that both parties denied any relationship.
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Topics: Phillip Schofield, Celebrity
Jess Hardiman