PHILLIP Schofield has apologised to his wife as he confessed to an affair with a male This Morning worker while still married.

The ITV star – who has been married to Stephanie Lowe for 30 years – confessed to a relationship with a younger man.

Stephanie – who shares two children with Phillip – stood by him when he revealed in 2020 he was gay in a dramatic statement on ITV.

At the time, she said: “We have had to face the most emotionally painful time in our 27 years of marriage.

“I love Phillip, as much today as I ever have, and always will.”

And Schofield today apologised as it was revealed he had an affair with the This Morning worker while married to Stephanie.

He said that the relationship with the younger man “was unwise, but not illegal” in a lengthy statement.

In the statement, he said: “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.”

Schofield said the “consensual” relationship was “on-off” – with the pair meeting when he was a teenager.

He said: “It was only after he started to work on the show that it became more than just a friendship. That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over.

“When I chose to come out I did so entirely for my own wellbeing. Nobody ‘forced’ me out. Neither I nor anyone else, to my knowledge, has ever issued an injunction, super or otherwise, about my relationship with this colleague, he was never moved on or sacked by or because of me.

‘In an effort to protect my ex-colleague I haven’t been truthful about the relationship. But my recent, unrelated, departure from This Morning fuelled speculation and raised questions which have been impacting him, so for his sake it is important for me to be honest now.”

He has now stepped down the British Soap Awards and resigned from ITV with immediate effect.

Schofield has now been dropped by his agent after the affair, which was not illegal, with the male ITV employee was exposed.

YMU – Schofield’s agency – released a statement, saying: “Honesty and integrity are core values for YMU’s whole business, defining everything we do.

“Talent management is a relationship based entirely on trust.

“This week, we have learned important new information about our client Phillip Schofield.”

THIS MORNING AXING

Schofield was only just axed from This Morning last week after intense speculation of a feud with co-host Holly Willoughby.

It comes after his brother Tim Schofield was jailed after being found guilty of “emotionally blackmailing” a teen into sex acts and forcing him to watch porn.

Timothy Schofield, 54, carried out a string of sexual offences – the most serious involving an alleged sex act with the boy.

And he was jailed for 12 years over the sickening child offences on May 19.

The next day, it was confirmed his brother Phillip was dropped by ITV.