Eamonn Holmes accuses Phillip Schofield of creating ‘toxic atmosphere’ and ITV of ‘total cover-up’

Presenter Eamonn Holmes has accused Phillip Schofield of creating a ‘toxic atmosphere’ and ITV of a ‘total cover-up’, in an interview on the Dan Wootton Tonight show for GB News.

Holmes, who formerly presented the show along with his wife Ruth Langsford, claimed Schofield ‘created an atmosphere’ on This Morning. ‘where people hated him’ and ‘avoided him in the corridor’. He made the claims in an interview with Dan Wootton on GB News — which aired on Monday (May 29th).

It comes after Schofield, 61, resigned from ITV on Friday (May 26th) and was dropped by his talent agency YMU after admitting to having an affair with a younger male colleague on the show — something he previously denied.

The runner, who has not been named, was 15 when they met. Schofield said the ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair began after he turned 18 and worked as a runner on This Morning.

Holmes, who left the show in December 2021, claimed ‘everything at ITV was geared towards making Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby happy’ — describing the pair as ‘distant’ and uncaring of other staff.

He labelled Schofield a ‘narcissist,’ and said he was doing the interview on behalf of people ‘who were gagged’ from speaking about it. Adding: “I didn’t know anything. I heard rumours. Who were you going to go to with these rumours? Everyone was team Phillip and Holly.”

The ex-Morning presenter also accused ITV of a ‘total cover up’ over the affair as he says they knew about the romance. Holmes claimed ‘those in authority had to know’ as the runner would be taken to and from his flat and the studios in taxis which were ‘paid for by ITV’.

The GB News star claimed Schofield would enjoy Thursday ‘playtime’ after work with the young man, all while being married to his wife.

He claimed the former presenter would take his former lover back to his £1 million flat in an exclusive block within the studios at White City, West London.

According to ITV News, after a trailer for the interview had aired but before it had been played out in full at around 10.30pm, a spokesman for Schofield said: “Phillip has no comment.”

Schofield’s relationship took place while he was still married to his wife, Stephanie Lowe, who is also mother to their two daughters. It is understood the younger colleague is not in the public eye and did not want their relationship to be known.

In a statement released through the Daily Mail last week, Schofield said: “The first thing I want to say is: I am deeply sorry for having lied to them (the Daily Mail), and to many others about a relationship that I had with someone working on This Morning.”

He continued: “I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning.

“Contrary to speculation, whilst I met the man when he was a teenager and was asked to help him to get into television, it was only after he started to work on the show that it became more than just a friendship. That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over.”

The presenter added: “I am painfully conscious that I have lied to my employers at ITV, to my colleagues and friends, to my agents, to the media and therefore the public, and most importantly of all to my family.

“I am so very, very sorry, as I am for having been unfaithful to my wife.”