ITV asks a lawyer to examine the facts surrounding the exit of Phillip Schofield | ITV plc

ITV has appointed a lawyer to carry out an external review of the facts following the departure of Phillip Schofield from This Morning.

In a letter seen by the PA news agency, ITV chief executive Carolyn McCall said: ‘You will have seen the extensive media coverage surrounding Phillip Schofield. As you can imagine, we take the matter very seriously and reviewed our own cases over the weekend. These show that when rumors of a relationship between Phillip Schofield and an ITV employee started circulating in late 2019/early 2020, ITV investigated.

“Both parties were then questioned and have repeatedly and flatly denied the rumours, as did Phillip’s agency YMU at the time. In addition, ITV spoke to a number of people who worked in the This Morning daytime crew and at large and who have not received or found any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour.

“Given the ongoing rumours, we have continued to ask questions of both parties, both of whom have continued to deny the rumours, including as recently as this month. There have been many inaccuracies in the reports, so I thought it would be useful to set out some facts.

The letter was sent to Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer; the president of the culture, media and sport select committee, Caroline Dinenage; and Ofcom Chief Executive Melanie Dawes.

More details soon…