Dr. Ranj has once again blasted This Morning, although he has emphasised that the complaint he made while working on the show was not about Phillip Schofield specifically.
The 43-year-old spent a decade as the show’s resident doctor before departing in 2022.
Dr Ranj took to social media when Schofield resigned from the programme and subsequently admitted to having an affair with a young runner. He said that he filed a complaint with ITV executives, which they later verified, and claimed that he was manoeuvred out.
Dame Carolyn McCall, the CEO of ITV, spoke before a parliamentary committee on Wednesday, when she was probed by MPs about her awareness of the connection and was asked to address charges of ‘toxicity’ at This Morning.
She said that following the accusation, the broadcaster commissioned an external inquiry into “what had transpired but could not be upheld.”
A second complaint was lodged, which she said was handled seriously and investigated internally.
Dr. Ranj has now disclosed the nature of his concern.
‘Just for clarity my complaint (and investigation) was not about Phillip – it was not about ITV as a channel and I did speak up when I was working on This Morning.’
He continued: ‘I flagged up my concerns as I was supposed to and I did it because I wanted things to be better for all. As I still do.’
In a subsequent tweet, he explained why he thinks the probe failed.
‘Policies and procedures may be in place, but that doesn’t mean everyone is aware/feels empowered to use them,’ he began.
‘And investigations are only as good as the people/questions you ask. If you can’t/won’t speak up, you won’t get the full picture. This applies across all industries.’
The former Strictly Come Dancing star previously said he ‘genuinely loved and valued working’ at This Morning.
However, he added that ‘over time I grew increasingly worried about how things were behind-the-scenes and how people, including myself, were being treated’.
‘I didn’t know the truth about what was going on with Phillip, but I do know the issues with TM go far beyond him. It takes more than one person to create a culture.’
Dr Ranj, who now appears on BBC Morning Live, then revealed he had ‘taken his concerns directly to the top of ITV’ before claiming that he ‘hadn’t worked on the show since’.
He continued: ‘I did what I thought was right and, as ITV confirmed last night, I raised my concerns about Martin Frizell’s behaviour (and the environment at TM) with Emma Gormley – especially given that my job is to look after people’s wellbeing and I had been heavily involved in diversity, anti-bullying and mental health projects across the channel.
‘I then found myself being used less and less,’ Dr Ranj added, saying that he told top bosses of the ‘toxic culture’ at This Morning before admitting he felt like ‘because I whistle-blew I was managed out’.
‘But as history and experience have taught us, things like bullying and discrimination are very hard to prove, particularly in hindsight and when the “people in power” control the narrative. As we’ve seen, no review of investigation is foolproof.’
