Phillip Schofield admits affair with younger ITV employee and resigns with ‘immediate effect’

Schofield, in a lengthy statement to the Daily Mail, said the the relationship was “unwise but not illegal” as he added the man was a teenager when they first were introduced.

He also confirmed he would be stepping down as host of the British Soap Awards and would be “resigning from ITV with immediate effect”

"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,” Schofield said.

This comes just days after the broadcaster announced he was parting ways with ITV’s This Morning Show, following speculation of a rift between he and co-presenter Holly Willoughby.

Mr Schofield, in his statement, also insisted that he was not “forced” to come out as gay, when he did so. He said that in “an effort to protect my ex-colleague, I haven't been truthful about the relationship”.

"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.

"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.

"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,” Schofield said.