ITV 'banning under-18s from working on This Morning' after Phillip Schofield scandal

According to reports, ITV is now prohibiting individuals who are under 18 years old from working on This Morning following the scandal involving Phillip Schofield.

The previous host acknowledged having a relationship with a younger male staff member, which they deemed as unwise but lawful, in the past year.

The accusations were made during reports of a possible disagreement with fellow host Holly Willoughby. Afterwards, Schofield chose to leave the show, and astonishingly stepped down from all his ITV ventures, including Dancing On Ice.

When he left, it led to more accusations that This Morning was promoting a harmful culture of bullying, which had been labelled as poisonous. This was because more information about his 'affair' came out, despite him being married to his wife for 30 years and not publicly coming out as gay at the time.

The unidentified individual in charge of the show is 34 years younger than Schofield. Allegedly, they first met when the presenter was 15 years old, and their romantic involvement began when the other person was 20.

The Sun reported that channel authorities have prohibited minors from working in order to create a safe working environment for all individuals.

Additionally, it has been stated that the "prohibition" will increase the difficulty of nepotism taking place at the channel. This is because personnel will have limited ability to provide assistance to friends and relatives who are under the age of 18.

According to an insider, ITV is taking serious measures to prevent any similar mishaps like the Schofield scandal from occurring in the future by implementing stricter policies.

The company is implementing stricter policies to dissuade the hiring of acquaintances and relatives of high-ranking staff to avoid even the slightest hint of favoritism or other unethical practices.

The son of a producer is currently employed as a runner, but he was only permitted to have that position due to his placement in another area of the company.

The regulations for recruitment have become very strict. Recruitment of individuals aged 16 or 17 is now prohibited. The minimum age requirement to be eligible for employment is now 18 or above.

After Schofield left ITV, an investigation was started in May to examine the details. This investigation was confirmed in a letter from Dame Carolyn McCall to Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer, DCMS Committee chair Dame Caroline Dinenage, and Ofcom chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes.

She mentioned in the letter that ITV considers the issue as a grave matter and has thoroughly examined their own records. Their investigation revealed that speculations about a romantic relationship between Phillip Schofield and an ITV employee had surfaced in late 2019 or early 2020, and ITV had taken necessary measures to investigate the matter.

According to the report, Schofield chose not to participate in the external investigation regarding his departure from ITV due to concerns regarding his well-being, despite being asked to do so.

Jane Mulcahy KC stated that she was informed about Schofield's mental well-being having worsened. She also talked about rumors of a negative and harmful environment at This Morning.

According to her, there was just one individual she conversed with who was privy to the intimate connection between Schofield and the unidentified jogger. However, this employee chose to withhold this information and did not bring it to the attention of anyone else despite hearing of it in 2021.

Mulcahy conducted interviews with 48 individuals during the review process. In addition to Schofield, the runner also refused to take part in the interview.

According to Mulcahy's report, there were no reports from others claiming to have suspicions as early as 2017.

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According to the analysis, Schofield's support for the runner helped him out during his initial days at ITV. Nevertheless, the individual succeeded largely without any further influence from Schofield.

The report stated that PX's promotion to another daytime program as a production secretary was not related to PS, and the author is content with this conclusion.

In addition, the sole arrangement between ITV and PX that resulted in the payment of any amount to him was a typical agreement that brought his employment to a close, which was dated on the thirty-first day of July in the year 2021.

In 2019, when the news first spread, ITV made every effort to assist PX and provided considerable supplementary aid to him. They continued to assist him until May of 2023, despite his employment being terminated.

The evaluation suggested that supervisors should guarantee that less experienced staff members are familiar with the concept of a culture of transparency and understand that there is a secure environment to express grievances or issues without fearing the possibility of jeopardizing their employment.

The recommendation was made for ITV to provide specific instructions to its well-known individuals in order to ensure that they consistently exhibit positive actions and behavior in the future.

The website Metro.co.uk has reached out to ITV for a response.

The program "This Morning" is shown every weekday on ITV1 starting at 10am.

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