Good Morning Britain star is surprise favourite to replace Phillip Schofield on This Morning after host is axed by ITV
ITV will flip to a long-serving, regular professional to replace Phillip Schofield on This Morning, in accordance to bookies.
The complete channel is in chaos after Schofield was axed from all his work commitments final evening for mendacity about an affair with a youthful male colleague.
There have been requires This Morning, which Schofield offered for 21 years, to be axed after the information got here to gentle.
It will take somebody with broad shoulders and loads of expertise to companion Holly Willoughby in these testing occasions.
And bookmaker Coral believes that individual will likely be Good Morning Britain star Ben Shephard, who is favourite with odds of 4-5 to take the gig.
Coral’s John Hill stated: “Ben Shephard is no stranger to morning tv, as he has been one of many faces of Good Morning Britain for the final 9 years.
“If our odds are correct, he may be set to get a few more hours in bed in the morning, as we make him the new frontrunner to replace Philip Schofield on the 10am show on ITV.”
Dermot O’Leary is one other frontrunner at 2-1, whereas This Morning co-stars Alison Hammond and Rylan Clark are 3-1, respectively, and Rochelle Humes is a 5-1 shot.
Husband and spouse presenting duo Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan are outsiders for a sensational return to the programme they hosted within the 90s at 12-1 and 16-1, respectively.
Last evening ITV broke its silence on Phillip’s affair with a “much younger” This Morning employee – blasting the star for his “deceit”.
Schofield, 61 – who was axed by This Morning simply final week – has now give up ITV after the affair with the male ITV worker was uncovered.
An ITV spokesperson stated: “We are deeply disillusioned by the admissions of deceit made tonight by Phillip Schofield.
“The relationships we’ve got with these we work with are based mostly on belief. Philip made assurances to us which he now acknowledges have been unfaithful and we really feel badly let down.
“We accept his resignation from ITV and therefore can confirm that he will not be appearing on ITV as had previously been stated.”
It’s understood the youthful man, who was a teen when he met Schofield, is not a public determine and didn’t need the connection to be revealed.
In a assertion, Schofield stated he’s “deeply sorry” for the affair which he stated was “unwise, but not illegal”.
He stated: “I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a youthful male colleague.
“Contrary to hypothesis, while I met the person when he was a teen and was requested to assist him to get into tv, it was solely after he began to work on the present that it turned greater than only a friendship.
“That relationship was unwise, however not unlawful. It is now over. When I selected to come out I did so solely for my very own wellbeing. Nobody ‘pressured’ me out.
“Neither I nor anybody else, to my information, has ever issued an injunction, tremendous or in any other case, about my relationship with this colleague, he was by no means moved on or sacked by or due to me.
“In an effort to defend my ex-colleague I haven’t been truthful concerning the relationship.
“But my latest, unrelated, departure from This Morning fuelled hypothesis and raised questions which have been impacting him, so for his sake it is essential for me to be sincere now.
“I’m painfully acutely aware that I’ve lied to my employers at ITV, to my colleagues and associates, to my brokers, to the media and due to this fact the general public and most significantly of all to my household.
“I’m so very, very sorry, as I’m for having been untrue to my spouse.
“I’ve due to this fact determined to step down from the British Soap Awards, my final public dedication, and am resigning from ITV with rapid impact expressing my immense gratitude to them for all of the wonderful alternatives that they’ve given me.
“I’ll replicate on my very dangerous judgement in each collaborating within the relationship after which mendacity about it.
“To defend his privateness, I’m not naming this particular person and my deepest want is that each he and his household can now transfer on with their lives free from additional intrusion, and that this assertion will allow them to accomplish that.
“I ask the media now to respect their privacy. They have done nothing wrong, and I ask that their privacy should be respected.”
Read extra on Phillip Schofield:
Schofield has been been dropped by his agent YMU, which stated in an announcement: “Honesty and integrity are core values for YMU’s entire enterprise, defining the whole lot we do.
“Talent administration is a relationship based mostly solely on belief.
“This week, we have learned important new information about our client Phillip Schofield.”
Schofield stated: “It is with essentially the most profound remorse that after 35 years of being faultlessly managed by YMU I’ve agreed to step down from their illustration with rapid impact.”
Phillip Schofield was nonetheless married to his spouse Stephanie Lowe – who he married in 1993 – on the time of the affair.
Schofield opened up about being homosexual in 2020, however remained married to spouse Stephanie.
Schofield was solely simply axed from This Morning final week — unable to bid farewell to his followers.
His exit was confirmed after weeks of intense hypothesis about his future and a feud with co-host Holly Willoughby, 42 — and as an insider revealed the row was even laying aside company from showing with them.
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