Phillip Schofield paid six-figure sum 'with gagging clause' to young lover following affair

19 February 2024, 16:06

Phillip Schofield has paid his much younger lover a six-figure sum in a deal that gags him from ever talking about their relationship.

Phillip, 61, saw his personal and professional life implode last year when it was revealed he had engaged in an extramarital affair with a man 34 years his junior, who he worked with on the set of This Morning.

At the time, Schofield labelled the relationship "unwise but not illegal." The man in question, who has not been named officially, was hired as a runner on the ITV show aged just 19.

They had first met when Mr Schofield's colleague was aged 15 but only had any "kind of sexual contact" was when the young man was 20.

The affair took place before Schofield publicly came out as gay and while he was still married to his wife, Stephanie Lowe.

Read More: Phillip Schofield 'unlikely to return to TV' as ex-This Morning host is in 'very bad place' following review into affair

Read More: ITV 'did not cover-up evidence of Phillip Schofield's affair with This Morning runner before star quit,' review finds

A representative for Schofield confirmed a deal was signed last year, including payment to compensate the man for losses suffered.

And now it has emerged that the younger male colleague is still attempting to put his life back together.

Despite the clause gagging both sides from talking about the affair, Schofield revealed intimate details of their relationship when he was interviewed by the BBC's Amol Rajan last June.

A source familiar with the NDA told The Mail on Sunday: "The young man has been fragile for some time. That is no secret.

"There was a payment made for various matters that followed Phillip's decision to speak out about his relationship and as part of that, an NDA was arranged and signed.

"It means that Phil knows that his young ex will not ever be able to speak about their relationships so he can probably sleep a lot better at night now."

An external review was conducted by ITV into the handling of the affair.It found that ITV made "considerable efforts" to determine the truth about the relationship.

"There was a lot of unfair, inaccurate and damaging speculation about This Morning’s culture. The plc Board met with the KC this week and she told us: “there is no finding of a “toxic” culture, and had there been one, I would have said so”, Kyla Mullins General Counsel and Company Secretary at ITV said in an email to staff.

Holly Willoughby stepped down from This Morning five months after news of the affair came to light.

Last week, This Morning announced that Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard will take over as the permanent hosts of the show.