Phillip Schofield and ex lover sign gagging orders so TV host can 'sleep easy'
Phillip Schofield and his former young lover have signed mutual non-disclosure agreements to stop them ever speaking publicly about their affair that destroyed the This Morning host's career.
Former presenter Phil, 61, saw his personal and professional life implode last year when it was revealed he had engaged in an "unwise but not illegal" extramarital affair with a man 34 years his junior, who he worked with on the set of This Morning.
Phil - who is still married to 60-year-old wife Stephanie Lowe, who he wed in 1993 - admitted to lying about the affair and resigned from ITV completely weeks after quitting This Morning as news of bitter behind-the-scenes arguments with 42-year-old Holly Willoughby had overshadowed the reputation of the show.
The younger man, known as Person X, was hired to work as a runner on This Morning when he was 19 but his working relationship with Phil turned romantic once he turned 20.
Now both Phil and his ex have signed watertight NDA deals to keep the details of their romance private. That is said to have provided relief to Phil who is able to 'sleep easy' almost a year since the affair was exposed.
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Schofield is also understood to have helped the younger man financially with his legal costs and for his financial losses - he is believed to have quit his career in the TV industry in the wake of the scandal.
Phillip Schofield's ex-lover will not be named or pictured after affair scandal (ITV)A lawyer speaking on behalf of Schofield told the Mirror: "Person X instructed [Phillip's lawyers] to seek from Phillip Schofield payment of his substantial legal costs in dealing with the media to protect his privacy, compensation for the loss of his job and home, and other financial losses suffered as a consequence of the media coverage of their relationship. This was incorporated in an agreement which included a mutual non-disclosure provision."
A source told the Mail on Sunday: “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. He has lost a lot but imagine if the full details came out – it would be pretty cataclysmic for him.”
Phillip Schofield quit This Morning last year when the affair came to light (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)The source has hit out at Phil, however, highlighting a degree of hypocrisy over the fact he gave a tell-all interview to the BBC last June following his dramatic quitting of ITV, during which he shared details about his affair. The source added: “It's a bit rich to present an NDA after Phil had his say with the BBC last year.”
In an explosive statement released last May, 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. Contrary to speculation, whilst I met the man when he was a teenager and was asked to help him to get into television, 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.”
He added at the time: “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.”
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