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In a dramatic year for This Morning, Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby have now both left the sofa they shared for more than a decade.
Schofield’s fall from grace followed quickly after he admitted to having an affair with a much younger male colleague while still married to his wife and lost his talent representation before leaving ITV altogether.
Willoughby said her decision in October was to spend more time ‘for me and my family’ and the broadcaster’s director of media and entertainment, Kevin Lygo, has said she ‘remains a much-loved member of the ITV family’ and that he hopes to work with her in the future.
Here’s a timeline of how events unfolded:
– February 2020: Schofield comes out as gay after almost 27 years of marriage to wife Stephanie, in an emotional conversation with co-host and long-time friend Willoughby. The couple embraces on the couch.
Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield have both been criticized
September 2022: The co-presenters are facing criticism over claims they skipped the queue for Queen Elizabeth II’s lying in state while they were present as members of the media filming a segment for This Morning.
April 17, 2023: The first indication that something is wrong comes in the first show after the Easter holidays. Schofield and Willoughby were both expected to sit on the bench after he resigned while his brother Timothy was on trial for child abuse. While Schofield is back in the studio, Willoughby is absent and says she has shingles.
May 10th: The Sun reports that the pair ‘barely speak’.
11 May: Schofield calls Holly “his rock” and says they are “best friends.”
15 May: The pair presented a united front on This Morning and made no reference to press stories about their relationship.
May 18: Schofield presents what will prove to be his final episode of This Morning.
May 20th: Schofield is stepping down from This Morning with immediate effect. ITV says he will continue to present ‘peak time shows’ including The British Soap Awards and a new primetime series. Willoughby issues a statement saying the bank “won’t feel the same without him.”
Presenters Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond
21st of May: It is announced that Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond will host the show on Monday, May 22, as Willoughby takes early leave. It is announced that she will host again on June 5.
May 22nd: O’Leary and Hammond host the show and praise Schofield as ‘one of the best live television broadcasters this country has ever had’.
May 26: Schofield admits having an ‘ill-advised but not illegal’ affair with a much younger male colleague and resigns from ITV. He confirms the relationship started when he was with his wife and says he will not be hosting the British Soap Awards, his last public engagement. He apologizes for lying about the relationship. He is dropped by his talent agency YMU.
27th of May: Willoughby accuses Schofield of lying to her about the affair and says his confession is “very hurtful.” ITV said the broadcaster “did not receive or find any evidence of a relationship beyond rumor and hearsay” when it investigated the case in 2020.
the 28th of May: Former This Morning doctor Dr Ranj Singh says the show is ‘toxic’, adding that two years ago when he worked there he raised concerns about ‘bullying and discrimination’ and subsequently felt that he was ‘outed’ for whistleblowing. ITV responds by saying that an external and independent consultant has been appointed to conduct an investigation into the complaint, which found ‘no evidence of bullying or discrimination’.
Dame Carolyn McCall, CEO of ITV
May 29: Schofield releases a statement on This Morning denying ‘toxicity’ and saying ‘it’s the same handful of people with grudges against me or the show who seem to have the loudest voice’. Former This Morning presenter Eamonn Holmes claims there was a ‘total cover-up’ of the affair at ITV and says Willoughby should follow Schofield ‘out the door’ in an interview on GB News.
May 31: In a letter seen by the PA news agency, ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall said the broadcaster has instructed a lawyer to conduct an external investigation into its handling of Schofield’s case. She added that Jane Mulcahy KC, of Blackstone Chambers, will “conduct an external investigation to establish the facts.”
1 June: Dame Carolyn will be called to testify before a parliamentary committee on June 14 to answer questions about the broadcaster’s approach to indemnification and complaints handling following Schofield’s departure.
The Sun publishes an interview with Schofield in which he says he is sorry to Willoughby, but owes his ‘biggest apology’ to his former lover. He reiterates that he did not “groom” the man, and that although his wife was “very, very angry” about the affair, his daughters “guarded” him during the fallout.
June 2nd: The BBC airs its own interview with Schofield, conducted by media editor Amol Rajan. Schofield says he has “lost everything” and that the affair has had a “catastrophic effect” on his mind. Speaking about the criticism he has faced, he says he sees ‘nothing moving forward’ except ‘blackness and sadness’ and now speaks of his television career ‘in the past tense’. Schofield also urged the media to leave the younger man alone.
5 June: Willoughby makes an emotional return to This Morning, saying she felt ‘shocked, disturbed, let down and concerned’ after the Schofield revelations. The episode was watched by an average of 839,000 viewers, the highest daily average for the show since the Coronation Day holiday on 8 May, and had a peak audience of 1.6 million.
14th of June: ITV boss Dame Carolyn is being questioned by MPs, along with ITV director Kevin Lygo and general counsel and business secretary Kyla Mullins over Schofield’s departure. Dame Carolyn tells the Culture, Media and Sport Committee (CMS) that the broadcaster is not acknowledging allegations of a toxic culture on This Morning, saying ‘I am deeply disappointed’.
5 September: This Morning will lose its title of best daytime show at the National Television Awards to The Repair Shop, after going on a winning streak in the daytime category in recent years.
the 13th of September: Dame Carolyn briefs the CMS committee to say that the external review is being led by Jane Mulcahy KC and that she has ‘conducted several witness interviews, and further interviews will continue throughout September’.
October 6: A mall security guard is taken into custody for an alleged plot to kidnap and murder Willoughby. Gavin Plumb, 36, was charged at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court with inciting the murder of a man named David Nelson and inciting him to kidnap between October 2 and 5 in Harlow, Essex. The other man was due to arrive in Britain from the US the following week, the court heard.
October 10: Willoughby announces she is quitting presenting This Morning after 14 years, saying on Instagram that it was an ‘honor just to be part of the story’. Following Willoughby’s announcement, Mr Lygo said: ‘She remains a much-loved member of the ITV family and we look forward to continuing to work with her in the future.’