This Morning host Phillip Schofield is said to have spent time with his younger lover in a flat he bought with his wife, Steph, which is on sale for £1.2m
Phillip Schofield, the younger colleague he had a relationship with, and Holly Willoughby
Phillip Schofield ‘s penthouse flat where he is said to have had secret trysts with the younger colleague who he had an “unwise” affair with is up for sale.
Earlier this week, we reported how the former This Morning presenter, 61, would sneak the runner into the apartment where they would spend hours together, according to an inside source.
Eamonn Holmes, who used to host the daytime TV show on Fridays, even commented on the flat, claiming Phillip took his lover there for “playtime Thursdays”, adding that ITV would pay for cars to drive him to work on set the next day.
However in an interview with the BBC on Friday, Phillip admitted there were only “five or six times” encounters in total between him and the young male lover over a few months.
The flat where Phillip is said to have entertained the younger colleague is now up for sale(Image: MJ-Pictures.com)
It is understood that Phillip bought the flat with his wife, Steph, 59, and while they were holding out for a profit, the pair decided to sell it on for the same £1.2m they bought it for. It has now been on the market for around four years.
Speaking to The Sun, a source said: “It has long been rumoured that Phil was using a flat to conduct his affair with the young runner so they could meet in secret outside of office hours.
“He would usually stay there while presenting This Morning from Monday to Thursday with ITV cars often seen coming and going from the address.
Phillip said he met up with the younger production assistant on five or six occasions(Image: schofe/Instagram)
“The property has been on the market for a while now. Apparently there has been one offer recently but the buyer dropped out. It seems like the Schofields are now unfussed about making a profit and just want rid of it since their split.”
Despite the claims, Phillip insists he never used ITV money to pay for the young man’s travel, and said they only used the flat once.
The Sun reports: “Over a period of time it happened maybe five or six times.
“…there was talk of the apartment in television centre. We never visited that place because we had a tenant in it.
“But we had another place in South East London. I was there and he phoned up and said, ‘do you fancy a beer?’ And he came over and we had a beer.”
The penthouse flat is in a gated area of south London and described as being in “very good condition throughout” and apparently it’s the “perfect setting for entertaining” with views of the iconic Shard.
Meanwhile, it has been claimed the TV stalwart would also spend time with the runner in The Helios, an exclusive block within the ITV studios at White City, West London.
It has been reported that they would enter and exit the flat through the White City House hotel, to not arouse suspicion.
Phillip has been in the news a lot lately(Image: BBC)
“Phil and the runner were often seen leaving at around 3pm, two hours after filming on This Morning had ended,” a source told The Sun.
“They would use the entrance through the hotel and stay for an hour or two. Phillip’s driver was always waiting for him outside.
“I asked one of the security guards why the driver was still here and he replied, ‘well Phillip and that young runner are up in the apartment’.”
It comes after YouTuber Jack Jones claimed he was asked by Phillip not to post a video where the social media star can be seen spraying a confetti cannon, with Phillip and a younger male in the background.
In a video shared on Twitter, Jack claimed: “After I did the video, he begged me not to put the video up because he said, ‘it could ruin my career’ and I said, ‘how could it ruin your career?’ And he said he didn’t want to get into it.”
The relationship was not “illegal”(Image: ITV)
Announcing the affair in a bombshell statement last Friday, Phil said: “The first thing I want to say is: I am deeply sorry for having lied to them, and to many others about a relationship that I had with someone working on This Morning.
“I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning.”
“I am painfully conscious that I have lied to my employers at ITV, to my colleagues and friends, to my agents, to the media and therefore the public and most importantly of all to my family.
“I am so very, very sorry, as I am for having been unfaithful to my wife…,” he said in a statement released to the Daily Mail.
Holly has since broken her silence about the escalating scandal
He continued: “I have therefore decided to step down from the British Soap Awards, my last public commitment, and am resigning from ITV with immediate effect expressing my immense gratitude to them for all the amazing opportunities that they have given me.
“I will reflect on my very bad judgement in both participating in the relationship and then lying about it.”
Phillip claimed he covered up the fling for years in a bid to “protect” his former colleague as he insisted the relationship was “unwise” but not “illegal”.
The Mirror has reached out to ITV and Phillip’s representatives for comment.
Phillip’s representative said the property on sale has been on the market for some four years.
