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11th June 2023
12:30pm BST
ITV has apparently offered to pay for This Morning employees to have therapy if they want following the fallout from Phillip Schofield's departure.
Last week, Holly Willoughby returned to the daytime show for the first time since her long-time co-host departed the show and then the broadcaster.
This was after he admitted to having an affair with a younger male colleague whilst they were working together on the show, having denied this to ITV at the time.
In her prepared speech, Willoughby said the scandal had left her “shaken, troubled, let down and worried.”
She began her statement - which many branded 'insincere' and 'acting' - by asking viewers whether they "are okay", before saying that it felt "very strange indeed to be sitting here without Phil.”
Using Schofield's name only once and then only referring to the 61-year-old as 'they' for the rest of the speech, Willoughby continued: "You me and all of us at This Morning gave our love and support to someone who was not telling the truth, who acted in a way that they themselves felt that they had to resign from ITV and step down from a career that they loved.
"That is a lot to process, and it's equally hard to see the toll that it's taken on their own mental health.
"I think what unites us all now is a desire to heal, for the health and wellbeing of everyone.
"I hope that we start this new chapter and get back to a place of warmth and magic that this show holds for all of us, we can find strength in each other," she concluded.
It seems that ITV are also concerned about the wellbeing of those involved in the show.
According to reports, the broadcaster has offered to pay for the therapy of any This Morning employee who wants it.
A source told the Sun: “The executives know they have a duty of care to their employees, especially as the spotlight has been on them during the public scandal.
“They’ve told everyone that counselling is available if they want it.”
Willoughby's speech on Monday was must-watch television for many people who were intrigued to see what she had to say.
But it seems that after that, people couldn't have cared less about This Morning itself, with viewing figures showing that some 200,000 people switched off the show after her speech.
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