Phillip Schofield says that he learned about allegations of toxicity on This Morning following his departure from the daytime programme – and took aim at three people he was “aware of”.
Schofield departed ITV in May 2023 in the wake of his secret affair revelations, after leaving This Morning that same month.
After the furore over Schofield’s admission of an “unwise, but not illegal” relationship with a younger male colleague, former This Morning doctor Ranj Singh hit out at a “toxic” culture on the programme.
Dr Ranj claimed he raised concerns about “bullying and discrimination” while working at ITV – and afterwards felt like he was “managed out” for whistleblowing.
Schofield said there was “no toxicity” on the programme at the time, and his allegations were about the “same handful of people with a grudge against me or the show who seem to have the loudest voice”.
On the second episode of Channel 5’s Phillip Schofield: Cast Away, where the 62-year-old spends 10 days alone on a small island off the coast of Madagascar in his first return to a TV series since leaving ITV, he addressed the claims again, saying at first it was “utter bollocks”, before saying that “there wasn’t (toxicity) when I was there”.
“I found out after I left that there are a few people in there that might be a little bit toxic,” he added.
“I never saw it … when (you’re) on the telly, you don’t see stuff like that, you’re protected from it, people don’t tell you, so I had no clue.”
Schofield also said that morning TV has a lot of “amazing” people, before taking aim at what he called “three shits”.
He called two of them cowards – one for not defending him over “queuegate”, and the second for not “stepping up” over another matter, which he did not clarify.
The final person, he said, was “just brand-orientated”.
Along with his then co-host Holly Willoughby, Schofield faced a backlash over claims the pair skipped the queue for the late Queen Elizabeth II’s lying in state. They were defended by the chief executive of ITV, Dame Carolyn McCall, who stressed the pair had been attending as members of the media to film a segment for This Morning.
Schofield was also upset that there was “absolutely no loyalty shown” to him during the furore over his affair, despite his 20-plus years on This Morning, and added: “I know what I did was unwise, not sensible, but is it enough to absolutely destroy someone, literally destroy someone?”
When he was dropped by his talent agency YMU on the same day he resigned from ITV after more than three decades with the company, he says he was “suicidal”.
Schofield added: “They sent me what looked like a cut and pasted text, (saying) ‘this time we’ll have to let you go’.”
The presenter says he knows people will claim he is having a “mad rant”, but he does not “care any more” as he has “nothing to lose”.
He added: “They’ve taken pretty much everything – reputation, dignity, legacy, everything – anyway. I’m not bleating, I’m just getting it off my chest.”
An external review, carried out by Jane Mulcahy KC on behalf of ITV found the channel made “considerable efforts” to find out the truth about an alleged affair between Schofield and a runner in 2019, but was not able to find evidence about the rumours.
Schofield “reluctantly declined” to take part in the probe because of “the risk to his health”, the report in December 2023 said.
Ms Mulcahy said that for the period she reviewed, she could not find evidence of a “toxic” culture, and urged ITV to help junior employees who think speaking out will have a “detrimental impact on their careers”.
ITV and YMU have been contacted for a response.
– The Samaritans can be contacted on 116123 or email jo@samaritans.org.
Phillip Schofield: Cast Away airs at 9pm on Monday on Channel 5, and will continue on Tuesday and Wednesday at the same time.
