‘No one ever had a good word’: Carol McGiffin claims none of the Loose Women like Phillip Schofield – as the This Morning star breaks his silence in first interview since admitting affair
- READ MORE: Phillip Schofield breaks his silence and says he’s ‘broken and ashamed’ but NOT a groomer in first interview since admitting affair
Carol McGiffin has claimed that none of the Loose Women panel like Phillip Schofield as she reacted to the presenter breaking his silence on his affair.
The former Loose Women star, 63, heaped criticism on the ex-This Morning presenter, 61, as she spoke to Dan Wootton on GB News on Thursday night.
Her comments came just hours after Phillip said he is ‘broken and ashamed’ but claimed he did not groom his colleague in his first interview since admitting an affair.
Phillip resigned from ITV last week and was dropped by his agency YMU after admitting to an ‘unwise, but not illegal’ affair with a younger male colleague.
Reacting to his first interview since the news, Carol claimed that none of the Loose Women panel like Phillip as she said nobody has said ‘a good word’ about him.
Fuming: Carol McGiffin has claimed that none of the Loose Women panel like Phillip Schofield as she reacted to the presenter breaking his silence on his affair
Breaking his silence: Her comments came hours after Phillip said he is ‘broken and ashamed’ but claimed he did not groom his colleague in his first interview since admitting an affair
‘I don’t know anybody who’s actually ever said out loud that they really like Phillip,’ she said.
‘I don’t think he was liked by any of the Loose Women, I never heard anybody there say that they actually like him and no one ever really had a good word for him.’
This Morning always features a segment with the Loose Women panel before they hand over to the show on ITV, and Carol claimed Phillip always made it ‘uncomfortable’ because he was ‘dismissive’.
She also alleged that a runner on Loose Women was let go from his role when Phillip’s lover was promoted to a new position on the show from This Morning.
The ‘unprecedented’ move is said to have left several members of the Loose Women panel ‘uncomfortable’, and Carol has now spoken on those claimed.
Carol, who was recently forced to quit Loose Women, said: ‘Everybody was really quite upset about it because everybody loved him. And he was a great runner.
‘I got a text message and it was from the young man in question. And he said, I’m the new production secretary at Loose Women. I thought, “hang on a minute. What’s happened here?”‘
Carol also alleged that Phillip is trying to ‘take the fall’ for bosses at ITV as she voiced her opinion that This Morning cannot carry on, even without Phillip, and should be axed.
Slammed: The former Loose Women star, 63, heaped criticism on the ex-This Morning presenter, 61, as she spoke to Dan Wootton on GB News on Thursday night
Not liked: Reacting to his first interview since the news, Carol claimed that none of the Loose Women panel like Phillip as she said nobody has said ‘a good word’ about him
Axing? Carol also alleged that Phillip (pictured with Holly Willoughby) is trying to ‘take the fall’ for bosses at ITV as she voiced her opinion that This Morning should be axed
She said: ‘I’m pretty certain that [Phillip] is he’s trying to take the fall for them all. And the way I see it, they’re so arrogant. Most TV bosses are the same. They’re really arrogant.
‘They think they’re invincible and they just think “right, let’s just carry on, move along, put Holly [Willoughby] back on the show, let’s just get back to normal and everything will be alright, Phillip’s apologised and it’s all going to be okay’, but it’s not going to be okay.’
READ MORE: Phillip Schofield breaks his silence and says he’s ‘broken and ashamed’ but NOT a groomer
The former This Morning star said the affair ‘never came across’ as an abuse of power because he and his lover were ‘mates’.
‘I think genuinely that This Morning, this show can’t go on. I think it’s way too tainted,’ she added.
MailOnline has contacted ITV for comment.
Last week, an ITV spokesperson said: ‘ITV can confirm that when rumours of a relationship between Phillip Schofield and an employee of ITV first began to circulate in early 2020 ITV investigated.
‘Both parties were questioned and both categorically and repeatedly denied the rumours as did Phillip’s then agency YMU.
‘In addition, ITV spoke to a number of people who worked on This Morning and were not provided with, and did not find, any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour.
‘Phillip’s statement reveals that he lied to people at ITV, from senior management to fellow presenters, to YMU, to the media and to others over this relationship.’
Earlier this month, Carol was forced to quit Loose Women after a bizarre radio rant, including claiming the Covid pandemic was a World Health Organisation plot to take over every government.
She confirmed that she had left the lunchtime show, protesting that ITV insisted she sign a contract with clauses that were ‘totally unjust and unworkable’.
But The Mail on Sunday then disclosed that a free speech row was at the centre of her departure, after a backlash over her tirade in an interview on TNT talk radio.
Carol’s comments came shortly after Phillip broke his silence on Thursday by saying he’s ‘broken and ashamed’ but not a groomer in his first interview since admitting an affair.
Exit: Earlier this month, Carol was forced to quit Loose Women after a radio rant, including claiming the Covid pandemic was a WHO plot to take over every government
Candid: Phillip broke his silence on Thursday night by saying he’s ‘broken and ashamed’ but not a groomer in his first interview since admitting an affair
He claimed the affair ‘never came across’ as an abuse of power because he and his lover were ‘mates’.
He told The Sun: ‘I was unprofessional, one time, in a 41-year career. There is no excuse. No one did anything wrong apart from me.’
In his first interview since leaving the broadcaster and This Morning, Phillip said: ‘I did not, I did not [groom him].
‘There are accusations of all sorts of things. It never came across that way because we’d become mates. I don’t know about that.
‘But of course I understand that there will be a massive judgment, but bearing in mind, I have never exercised that anywhere else.’
The former ITV veteran insisted to the newspaper that he did not ‘lie to protect’ his own career but that his colleague had not wanted ‘his name in public’.
‘At the time I did not think about it possibly ruining my career. I really probably only thought about it when I saw the rumour mill, and saw it growing’, he told The Sun.
‘Then I saw the link with the drama school photo all those years before, and thought, ‘This looks shocking’.
‘But I didn’t lie to protect my career, he didn’t want his name in public. He wanted his own life.’
He said their affair had begun in 2017 following a ‘consensual moment’ in his dressing room.
Despite this, he shut down claims that the pair were boyfriends, claiming it was ‘not a love affair, it was not a relationship, we were not boyfriends; we were mates’.
Throughout the interview, Phillip offered a number of apologies, including to his co-presenter of 14 years Holly Willoughby and his wife of 30 years, Stephanie Lowe.
But he said his ‘greatest apology’ over the fallout from the affair was to his former lover.
He added: ‘I am deeply sorry and I apologise to him because I should have known better. I should have acted the way I have always acted. I should not have done it.
‘I’m sorry. And I will forever be sorry. I will die sorry. I am so deeply mortified.’
Phillip had reportedly first met the man when he was 15 years old, but said the affair did not begin until he was much older and had begun working at ITV.
The BBC is also set to release an interview with Schofield being grilled by Amol Rajan.
Interviews: The BBC is also set to release an interview (pictured) with Phillip being grilled by Amol Rajan about his relationship with his younger This Morning colleague
Bombshell: Last Friday, Phillip quit ITV and was dropped by his talent agency YMU after admitting to an affair with a young male This Morning colleague
In a trailer released tonight, the presenter told BBC News: ‘It was a totally innocent picture, a totally innocent Twitter follow, of which I follow 11,400 people, and then it was a completely innocent backwards and forwards over a period of time about a job, about careers.
‘What’s wrong with that? What’s wrong with talking to someone no matter what age they are?
‘Does that mean that if you’re following anyone on Twitter that you absolutely don’t talk to anybody else or you don’t give advice?’
He added: ‘The brief communications backwards and forwards up to the point that he came to work on This Morning I think was just chat.’
Phillip clarified why his he said in his statement last week said the affair was ‘unwise’, and called it a ‘very, very grave error’.
He added: ‘It was consensual, but it was my fault.’
When did Phillip Schofield resign from This Morning?
Phillip Schofield’s fall from grace has been swift. The veteran TV star, who has admitted to an affair with a much younger male colleague while still married to his wife, has lost his high-profile job on This Morning, his lucrative contract with ITV and his talent representation.
This is a timeline of how events unfolded:
February 2020: Schofield comes out as gay after nearly 27 years of marriage to wife Stephanie, in an emotional on-air chat with co-host and long-time friend Holly Willoughby. The pair embrace on the sofa.
September 2022: The co-hosts face criticism over claims they skipped the queue for the Queen’s lying in state while attending as members of the media to film a segment for This Morning.
April 17 2023: The first hint something might be wrong comes in the first show after the Easter break. They should have both been on the sofa after Schofield took leave while he brother Timothy was on trial for child sex offences. While Schofield is back in the studio, Willoughby is absent, saying she has shingles.
May 10: There are reports the pair are ‘barely speaking’.
May 11: Schofield calls Holly ‘his rock’ and says they are ‘the best of friends’.
May 15: The pair put on a united front on This Morning and make no reference to stories about their relationship.
May 18: Schofield presents what will turn out to be his last episode of This Morning.
May 20: Schofield steps down from This Morning with immediate effect. ITV says he will continue to present ‘peak time shows’, including The British Soap Awards and a new prime-time series. Willoughby releases a statement saying the sofa ‘won’t feel the same without him’.
May 21: It is announced that Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond will host the show on Monday May 22, as Willoughby takes early half-term leave. It is announced she will return to hosting duties on June 5.
May 22: O’Leary and Hammond host the show and hail Schofield as ‘one of the best live television broadcasters this country has ever had’.
May 26: Schofield admits to an ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair with a much younger male colleague and resigns from ITV. He confirms that the relationship began while he was still with his wife and says he will not be hosting the British Soap Awards. He apologises for lying about the relationship. He is dropped by his talent agency YMU.
May 27: Willoughby accuses Schofield of lying to her about the affair, saying his admission is ‘very hurtful’. ITV says the broadcaster was ‘not provided with, and did not find, any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour’ when it looked into the matter in 2020.
May 28: Former This Morning resident doctor Dr Ranj Singh says the show is ‘toxic’, adding he raised concerns about ‘bullying and discrimination’ two years ago when he worked there and afterwards felt like he was ‘managed out’ for whistleblowing. ITV responds by saying an external and independent adviser was appointed to carry out a review after the complaint, which found ‘no evidence of bullying or discrimination’.
May 29: Schofield releases a statement denying ‘toxicity’ at This Morning and says ‘it’s the same handful of people with a grudge against me or the show who seem to have the loudest voice’. Former This Morning presenter Eamonn Holmes alleges there was a ‘total cover-up’ at ITV over the affair and says Willoughby should follow Schofield ‘out the door’.
May 31: ITV’s chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall says that the broadcaster has instructed a barrister to conduct an external review of how it has handled Schofield’s affair. She adds that Jane Mulcahy KC, of Blackstone Chambers, will ‘carry out an external review to establish the facts’.
June 1: Dame Carolyn has been called to give evidence to a parliamentary committee on June 14, to answer questions about the broadcaster’s approach to safeguarding and complaint handling following the departure of Schofield.
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