ITV are reportedly banning under-18s from working on This Morning after the scandal surrounding Phillip Schofield (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
ITV are reportedly banning under-18s from working on This Morning after the scandal surrounding Phillip Schofield.
Last year, the former presenter admitted to having an ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair with a younger male employee.
The allegations emerged amid a rumoured rift with co-host Holly Willoughby, and Schofield later quit the programme, before sensationally resigned from his ITV projects in full, including Dancing On Ice.
His departure sparked further allegations that This Morning was fostering a bullying culture that had been described as toxic, as more details about the ‘affair’ – which he said occurred while he was still married to his wife of 30 years and before he came out as gay – came to light.
The show runner, who remains anonymous, is 34 years Schofield’s junior, and was said to be 15 when he met the presenter, with the romantic relationship reportedly beginning when he was 20.
According to The Sun, minors are now being banned from being employed at the channel, to ensure people feel safe in the work environment.
It’s also said the ‘ban’ will make it harder for nepotism to occur at the channel, with staff being less able to help out friends and family members who are not over 18.
Schofield quit This Morning and resigned from ITV in full last year (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
A source said: ‘ITV doesn’t want anything like the Schofield scandal happening again so they’re tightening their policies big-time.
‘They’re making it tougher for friends and family members of senior employees to get a job here so that there’s no suggestion of nepotism – or anything else.
‘One producer’s son is working as a runner but is only allowed to do it because he’s based in a different department.
‘The rules are now whiter than white about hiring. No more 16 or 17 year olds anymore, either. It’s 18 and over.’
Following Schofield’s exit from ITV, an external review into the facts was launched in May, as confirmed in a letter from Dame Carolyn McCall to Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer, DCMS Committee chair Dame Caroline Dinenage and Ofcom chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes.
Schofield declined to take part in the external review (Picture: Lia Toby/Getty Images)
In the letter, she wrote that ITV takes the matter ‘extremely seriously and have reviewed our own records … [which] show that when rumours of a relationship between Phillip Schofield and an employee of ITV first began to circulate in late 2019/early 2020 ITV investigated.’
Schofield ‘reluctantly declined’ to take part in the external review into the circumstances surrounding his departure from ITV because of ‘the risk to his health,’ the report stated.
Jane Mulcahy KC added that she has been informed Schofield’s mental health has since deteriorated, and also addressed reports of a ‘toxic’ atmosphere at This Morning.
She said that only one person she spoke with had knowledge of the affair between Schofield and the anonymous runner, and that the employee did not report their knowledge to anyone after becoming aware of the relationship in 2021.
Mulcahy interviewed 48 people for the review, and as well as Schofield, the runner declined to participate.
‘Nor did others report suspicions from much earlier in 2017,’ Mulcahy’s report added.
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The review also found that Schofield’s patronage of the runner assisted him in the early days of his career at ITV but beyond this the man ‘seems to have made his way on his own.’
The report added: ‘I am satisfied that PX’s promotion to a role of production secretary on another daytime programme had nothing to do with PS.
‘Further, the only agreement between ITV and PX under which he was paid any settlement sum was a standard agreement ending the employment relationship dated 31 July 2021.
‘After the story broke in 2019, ITV tried to do everything it could to help PX and provided significant additional support to him, even in May 2023 despite his employment having ended.’
The review recommended managers ensure junior employees are aware of the ‘open culture’ and know that there is a safe space to complain or raise concerns without having to worry their job would be at risk.
It also suggested that ITV sets out ‘clear guidelines for its talent going forward to ensure that good behaviours are observed even by those who are household names.’
Metro.co.uk has approached ITV for comment.
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1.
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