Philip Schofiled’s paramour has been provided a settlement by ITV, but reports say this repayment and his relationship are mutually exclusive.
It is alleged that the money was given to the employee following his move from This Morning to another of the broadcaster’s daytime programmes.
ITV have declined to comment sources insist that the man, who cannot be identified, was instead given a “redundancy package” after leaving his job working on the broadcaster’s Loose Women in 2021 in line with usual practice for ITV employees.
Senior figures arranged pay-offs
Separately, a source told the Daily Mail that ITV bosses must have known of any payment given to the man as it would have had to be signed off by a senior figure.
“There have been numerous pay-offs at ITV and they have always had to be arranged and sanctioned by people of some seniority,” they told the newspaper.
It comes as ITV bosses are due to be questioned by MPs over their handling of the affair, which Schofield described as “unwise but not illegal”.
Eamonn Holmes, a former presenter on This Morning, has claimed he and his wife Ruth Langsford had “looked after” the young man during the affair.
Holmes, in an interview with GB News on Monday, said the employee is finding life “tough” following the fallout from the relationship.
He said: “He never once talked to us about any relationship, but we knew he was in a bad way and he was in a bad way, fragilely”.
ITV said it had investigated questions about the pair’s relationship when they first arose in early 2020.
A statement from the broadcaster on May 27 said: “ITV can confirm that when rumours of a relationship between Phillip Schofield and an employee of ITV first began to circulate in early 2020 ITV investigated.
“Both parties were questioned and both categorically and repeatedly denied the rumours as did Phillip’s then agency YMU.
“In addition, ITV spoke to a number of people who worked on This Morning and were not provided with, and did not find, any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour.”