He declared his love for Phil at a glitzy awards ceremony... then got shunted ... trends now
As he surveys the ruins of his career, Phillip Schofield's mind will doubtless turn to a fateful phone call he received some 12 years ago.
At the time it would not have seemed remotely exceptional or ill-omened. Just the kind of call celebrities receive all the time. Could he give a talk to some children at a theatre school?
The caller was a friend of both Schofield and his wife Stephanie Lowe, and a relative of one of the drama students, a 15-year-old boy.
Happy to oblige, Schofield, then in his late 40s, found time in his busy schedule – he had been presenting This Morning with Holly Willoughby for several years by this time – and travelled to the theatre in a city in North-West England. By all accounts his visit caused high excitement. As ever, he was enthusiastic, encouraging and generous with his time.
It is easy to see how the schoolboy must have enjoyed the attention generated by this showbiz connection and, emboldened, he asked the presenter afterwards if he might help him land a job in television. Once again, this can't have been the first such request Schofield received.
RUMOURS: Schofield and the young man, who we have chosen not to identify, leaving The Ivy in London in March 2017
Phil with fellow younger colleague who became his lover leaving The Ivy Club, London
Phillip Schofield with Stephanie Lowe at the National Television Awards Arrivals at the O2 in 2014
The presenter promised to get the boy an interview at the appropriate time but nothing more. Still, it was a foot in the door and the boy, still a year or more away from taking his GCSEs, ensured that Schofield kept his promise.
Bright and good-looking, though in some respects young for his age, he made a good impression when he was eventually invited to London. He began working on This Morning when he was in his late teens.
What did become quickly apparent is that soon after the boy's arrival on the This Morning set, he seemed close to the presenter, unusually so. Even if there was nothing untoward to begin with, it was surely an ill-advised friendship on the part of Schofield, by now in his early 50s.
In television, reputation is everything, particularly at the wholesome end occupied by Phil and Holly, who both enjoyed an immaculate public image.
Schofield's friend was popular and hard-working. That Schofield was an attentive mentor, there was little doubt. But to what level had their relationship progressed? It was a question raised, albeit privately, by their gossipy colleagues, who noted that the pair were often to be found huddled in eateries close to ITV's riverside studios.
This, then, was the extraordinary background to Schofield's explosive affair with his 'much younger' colleague, revealed for the first time today by The Mail on Sunday. It was not until 2020 that ITV began investigating the rumours.
This newspaper understands that the channel's inquiry was likely prompted by an incident at the start of that year. For some time Schofield had been in the habit of inviting his young lover to glitzy functions, often raising eyebrows. At one particular event, an awards ceremony, Schofield's friend stunned his ITV colleagues by, as one put it, 'declaring his love for Phil in no uncertain terms'.
But according to ITV yesterday, the boy was less forthcoming when bosses questioned him some time later. Both he and Schofield 'categorically and repeatedly' denied the rumours, as did Schofield's agency at the time, YMU. But there was an even greater bombshell in store for the This Morning team.
Phil with fellow younger colleague who became his lover leaving The Ivy Club, London
The presenter promised to get the boy an interview at the appropriate time but nothing more. Still, it was a foot in the door and the boy, still a year or more away from taking his GCSEs, ensured that Schofield kept his promise
The caller was a friend of both Schofield and his wife Stephanie Lowe, and a relative of one of the drama students, a 15-year-old boy
In television, reputation is everything, particularly at the wholesome end occupied by Phil and Holly, who both enjoyed an immaculate public image
On February 7 that year, Schofield announced that he was gay live on air. Flanked by his then best friend and co-star Holly, he broke down in tears as he revealed his 'inner conflict'.
But he
