Former This Morning presenter Richard Madeley has leapt to the defence of pal Phillip Schofield, claiming his axe from ITV was “savage and brutal”.
Schofield left ITV in May after confessing to having a “consensual on-off relationship” with a younger male runner while he was married. At the time, the 61-year old also admitted lying to ITV, his colleagues, friends and his agents, YMU, who subsequently dropped him from their books.
Madeley, 67, says he still talks to the father-of-two and believes he was treated unfairly over the “unwise, but not illegal” affair. He remains confident though that “all things pass in the end”.
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Madeley, who has been filling in on Good Morning Britain of late, told the Sun: “I feel very sorry for Phillip – it seemed a pretty savage outcome after 21 years (in the job).”
He continued: “It seemed quite brutal to be honest. I took a paternal interest in it – I kept in touch, told him to take it easy and that it’ll be all right. He agreed. All things pass in the end.
“We’ve all been through terrible experiences and the worst ones are the phones that come out of a clear blue sky and you don’t see them coming. Politicians say they’re only one debate away from a catastrophe and it’s the same in our industry.”
Earlier this week a downbeat looking Schofield was snapped whilst out for a stroll with his wife Stephanie Lowe and one of their two daughters, Molly. The presenter was clad in a blue jumper and jeans with his hands in his pockets as the trio headed out for some fresh air.
Schofield looked down as he walked beside Stephanie, who he married in 1993 and has stayed very close to since coming out as gay in 2020. Since news of his affair broke he has largely shunned the spotlight, but was spotted leaving a restaurant with another confidante in Vanessa Feltz in August.
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The pair dined at Little Bird in Chiswick, with photos showing them chatting and sharing a hug before Vanessa got into a car, leaving Schofield to walk alone. Vanessa, also 61, had previously spoken out about claims of toxicity on This Morning.
Speaking on her TalkTV programme, she said: “It has been suggested that quite a lot of the people who are very vocally critical of This Morning, and actually, it’s a handful of people, there are some celebrities, a couple of journalists, and what’s been suggested is quite a lot of them were once on the programme and aren’t on it any more.”
She went on: “And that is the reason for this aggrieved, kind of, grudging, kind of malice that is coming out but if you ask people who are still on the programme and who are on it regularly, who enjoy being on it, they won’t know what they are talking about.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
