[Andrew]

An exclusive story, - every single person and their dog knew about.

Knowing and proving are two different things though. The Mail had been hinting at it for a while now (ref the article I've previously linked to), but presumably they now had hard evidence which cleared legal.

The hard evidence being a statement from Phillip…

[madmusician]

Knowing and proving are two different things though. The Mail had been hinting at it for a while now (ref the article I've previously linked to), but presumably they now had hard evidence which cleared legal.

The hard evidence being a statement from Phillip…

Nah, enough evidence to take it to him and say, “We have proof and we’re running it, whether you like it or not. Would you like to soften the story by releasing your own statement?”

[RhysJR]

Knowing and proving are two different things though. The Mail had been hinting at it for a while now (ref the article I've previously linked to), but presumably they now had hard evidence which cleared legal.

The hard evidence being a statement from Phillip…

Said statement in full from Phillip Schofield himself

twitter.com 

[Otis Crump]

Anyone heard from Otis Crump lately?

Hi! There's evidence now, which is all I asked for. Evidence, not rumour, innuendo and speculation. As you were...

[brioalex]

I’m not sure how This Morning can come back from this… It looks bad on the show, the producers and ITV. It either needs a complete rebrand and overhaul or they need to rest the format and try something new. It’s impossible that someone didn’t know what was going on with Phil. Obviously it wasn’t anything illegal but it’s all in bad taste.

[Brekkie]

I’m not sure how This Morning can come back from this… It looks bad on the show, the producers and ITV. It either needs a complete rebrand and overhaul or they need to rest the format and try something new. It’s impossible that someone didn’t know what was going on with Phil. Obviously it wasn’t anything illegal but it’s all in bad taste.

Not really - the show and the individual are two different entities.   This Morning had arguably recovered by 10.02 on Monday.

[Larry the Loafer]

Schofield’s relationship is somewhat creepy, yes, but he’s not actually done anything illegal- the younger man in question was 17, UK age of consent is 16….

And also there was once upon a time another TV personality who dated a 17 year old when she was much older, yet upon her passing, we were quite rightly told to be kind… I’m worried for Phil that a similar fate may befall him. Perhaps there’s a bit of gender bias going on with the difference in reactions? The same people that were anti-Caroline, are seemingly pro-Schofield; and the people that are anti-Schofield were seemingly pro-Caroline.

The fact that the younger man in question was confirmed to be a teenager when they first met is what would make people raise eyebrows, and the fact that Schofield has admitted lying about the situation in a number of ways means we can't rule out that he's not telling the whole truth about him only becoming romantically involved with the aforementioned when it was legal for him to do so. But even if that proves not to be the case, the fact that he mentored the guy from the young age and got him a job on his show does make you wonder if there was abuse of power at play...

And as for the Caroline Flack comparison, Flack didn't lie about anything or cover things up. Schofield's situation of definite deception and possible lack of ethics can't really be compared, in my opinion.

[Scrotnig]

Anyone heard from Otis Crump lately?

Hi! There's evidence now, which is all I asked for. Evidence, not rumour, innuendo and speculation. As you were...

Fancy waiting for old fashioned things like evidence. This is 2023!

[brioalex]

I’m not sure how This Morning can come back from this… It looks bad on the show, the producers and ITV. It either needs a complete rebrand and overhaul or they need to rest the format and try something new. It’s impossible that someone didn’t know what was going on with Phil. Obviously it wasn’t anything illegal but it’s all in bad taste.

Not really - the show and the individual are two different entities.   This Morning had arguably recovered by 10.02 on Monday.

Phil is too associated with the ‘This Morning’ brand for it to continue without any changes.

[Newshound47]

I’m not sure how This Morning can come back from this… It looks bad on the show, the producers and ITV. It either needs a complete rebrand and overhaul or they need to rest the format and try something new. It’s impossible that someone didn’t know what was going on with Phil. Obviously it wasn’t anything illegal but it’s all in bad taste.

It will be fascinating to see if the show is still on air this time next week. Things could spiral quickly.