ITV has responded to reports that it refused to finance private counselling for Phillip Schofield‘s ex-lover.
Following his departure last month when it was revealed that he had misled to superiors and colleagues about his involvement with the younger guy, the former This Morning anchor is claimed to have been given a private rehabilitation package.
The announcer allegedly declined the runner’s plea for the same assistance.
A source told The Sun: ‘ITV appear to be slightly hypocritical in their approach to Phil and the runner, who they now call Person X.
‘Phil was told ITV would pay for any therapy. But Person X has said that he was only offered ITV’s basic package — which he turned down.
‘It seems pretty dismal in light of what has gone on that they wouldn’t offer to pay for a private package.’
ITV, on the other hand, has said that they would back both parties.
An ITV spokesperson told Metro.co.uk: ‘As we made clear last week, we are offering duty of care support to both Phillip Schofield and Person X.’
Schofield revealed last month that he was departing This Morning after two decades, and the 61-year-old broadcaster subsequently admitted in a statement that he lied about the affair, keeping the truth secret from his colleagues, employers, friends, and family.
There were rumours that the runner, who was relocated from This Morning to Loose Women, had been “bought off” by ITV.
However, during a Culture, Media, and Sport Committee meeting last week, ITV spokespeople disputed this.
MP John Nicolson asked: ‘We’ve talked about non-disclosure agreements a number of times today, and you’ve confirmed Mr X has not been asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement, though he was given a pay-off, wasn’t he?’
Kyla Mullins, the general counsel and company secretary for ITV, stated: ‘I wouldn’t characterise it as a pay-off. His role was made redundant.’
After ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall explained that he was made redundant after lockdown, Mullins continued to explain his role with the company.
She added: ‘He was a fixed-term contractor, so staff. We treat in exactly same way. He’d been on fixed-term contracts throughout his time on ITV.’
Nicolson asked: ‘Is that normal to give pay-offs to folks who are non-staff?’
Mullins responded: ‘It’s normal at ITV. It was an absolutely standard process. I have spoken to our chief people officer who has confirmed that. His settlement agreement that he entered into was completely standard.’
She added that in her understanding, the payment was ‘absolutely standard’ and ‘formulaic’, while Dame Carolyn stressed it was a ‘redundancy’, ‘because his role was redundant post-Covid’.
