Phil Schofield’s affair was ‘known’ to This Morning workers, ex-colleague claims | TV & Radio | Showbiz & TV

Emily Maddick reflected on what she referred to as This Morning’s “culture of intimidation” as she detailed her experience on the show, which she worked on from September to December 2019.

The ITV show has been making headlines for weeks since rumours of a feud between Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield led to the latter making an exit.

He later admitted to an affair with a younger male colleague while he was married to his wife.

ITV and This Morning have come under fire since, with rumours of a toxic culture and rumours of a cover-up swirling.

Emily has now claimed “those in power” knew about Phillip’s affair with the ITV runner and backed up claims of a “toxic” culture on the show.

READ MORE: Alison Hammond breaks down in tears as she watches Phillip’s interview

Glamour Magazine assistant editor Emily published a tell-all expose in the publication detailing her experience on This Morning following the endless reports and speculation..

Touching on the Phillip Schofield affair and claims of an ITV cover-up, she wrote: “Did I hear about the rumours about Schofield and his young male lover?

“Yes, it was an open secret amongst the production team.”

She went on to say: “Did I think that those in power knew about Schofield and his lover? Yes, I believe they were complicit.”

Emily also explained how she quit “due to bullying, sexism and a toxic culture of fear and intimidation,” before blasting Phillip and Holly’s friendship as fake.

She wrote: “Were King and Queen of ‘kindness’, the BFFs of bonhomie, Holly and Phil, as fun, friendly and fits-of-fizzy-giggles-funny as they appear on screen? No.”

The journalist also backed up former This Morning star Eamonn Holmes’ recent claims that the programme had a toxic culture as “entirely true”.

She went on to say she never spoke to Phillip and of Holly, she recalled: “The only interaction we had was when I held open a door for her and complimented her sparkly skirt, to which she thanked me.

“They were treated like gods, kept in a gilded cage, with their daily meetings with the editor held in their dressing rooms, away from the team.”

Addressing the claims in a candid BBC interview with Amol Rajan on Wednesday, Phillip stated: “I have to talk about television in the past tense, which breaks my heart. I have lost everything.

“What am I going to do with my days? I see nothing ahead of me but blackness, and sadness, and regret, and remorse, and guilt.”

In the interview, the clearly emotional presenter added: “I did something very wrong, and then I lied about it consistently.”

A spokesperson from ITV told Express.co.uk: “As a producer and broadcaster, ITV takes its responsibilities around Duty of Care and Speaking Up seriously and has robust and well-established processes in place.”

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This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV.