[Keith]

I think this whole story more of a storm in a tea cup, and more damaging about how badly ITV Daytime has been managed in the HR department. ITV know  but I dare say they thought to it a storm in a tea cup aswell.  Why it's the lead story on BBC/ITV is beyond me.

Because he's admitted to misleading through his lawyer, who he also misled. (Ref www.bbc.co.uk ) I imagine until now his lawyers had been issuing denials and threats of legal action to any media outlets who dared to report on the rumours.

As mentioned by earlier by others, it's not the initial scandal that's damaging but the handling of it.