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2nd June 2023
10:48am BST
In defending his affair with a younger male colleague, Phillip Schofield took the unusual step of comparing his romantic life to that of Leonardo DiCaprio.
In an interview with The Sun, the disgraced This Morning presenter claimed the backlash over the age gap between himself and his former lover was "homophobia".
Schofield, 61, met the young man - who has not been publicly named - when he was 15. He was 19 when he first did work experience at This Morning in 2015, and 20 when he applied and succeeded in securing a job as a runner on the show. In 2019, he was promoted to Loose Women and left ITV in 2021.
Schofield has previously said the relationship was "unwise but not illegal" and that the affair did not begin until the man was 20 after “something just happened between us that changed everything”.
Speaking to The Sun, Schofield compared his relationship to Leonardo Di Caprios' previous dalliances - the actor famously doesn't date anyone over 25 - and said it's "accepted" when the A-lister does it.
When asked about grooming rumours, Schofield firstly issued a deep apology to his ex-lover who says this whole situation has brought "greatest misery into his totally innocent life".
"I am deeply sorry and I apologise to him because I should have known better…. I will die sorry. I am so deeply mortified."
Schofield told The Sun: "We did first meet when he was 15, I visited the drama school (he attended).
"So yeah, there’s a difference. It’s accepted by Leonardo DiCaprio, it’s not accepted if it’s in the gay world.
"Attraction is attraction. It’s no different in the gay world as it is in the heterosexual world or in the lesbian world. There shouldn’t be a difference. This is where homophobia comes in."
Schofield explained that people have relationships with others of different ages, but conceded his affair doesn't look good: "Yes, I see what it looks like from the outside world. I just want to apologise to everyone.
"I did not, I did not (groom him)."
He said there are "accusations of all sort of things" but the pair had "become mates" before it progressed further.
Schofield also told the newspaper he did not "lie to protect" his career, but the colleague "didn’t want his name in public".
In a separate interview with the BBC, Schofield said
After fleeing waiting paparazzi outside his house, he sat down with Amol Rajan for an interview in which he said he has “lost everything” and that he’ll never work on TV again.
“I have to talk about television in the past tense, which breaks my heart,” he said, adding: “I see nothing ahead of me but blackness, and sadness, and regret, and remorse, and guilt. I did something very wrong, and then I lied about it consistently.”
“I’m sorry. And I will forever be sorry. I will die sorry. I am so deeply mortified.”
Schofield said the past week had made him understand how Caroline Flack had felt before she took her own life.
He said: “It is relentless, and it is day after day, after day after day,” he said. “If you don’t think that that is going to have the most catastrophic effect on someone’s mind… do want me to die? Because that’s where I am. I have lost everything.”
An external investigation into ITV and the facts behind Schofield's exit is about to get underway with co-stars Holly Willougby, Alison Hammond, and Dermot O'Leary expected to be questioned.
Former This Morning host, Eamonn Holmes and his wife Ruth Langsford may also be interviewed as part of the review.
Willoughby is due back on This Morning this Monday, June 5th but rumours have circulated that the star will not return to her role.
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