Soap Awards chaos as Phillip Schofield quits at the last minute – but fans think they have the perfect replacement
The British Soap Awards have been thrown into chaos tonight after Phillip Schofield announced he’s quit.
The 61-year-old dropped a bombshell statement today – saying he had quit ITV entirely and the award show, which he has hosted since 2006.
Phillip made the shock decision after it was revealed he had an affair with a much younger male ITV employee – just a week after he was dropped from This Morning.
The British Soap Awards is due to take place in Manchester on June 3rd – leaving show bosses just eight days to fill Phillip’s place.
Over the weekend Phillip had assured fans he would still be hosting the ceremony but has made a dramatic u-turn after admitting to an affair while he was still married.
Phillip has taken the helm for 17 years, but many fans already have an idea who they would like to replace him.
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One person tweeted: “Surely Hannah Waddingham would be amazing!”
A second said: “Sharon Marshall should be the new host of the #Britishsoapawards can’t think of anyone who would be more perfect.”
While a third added: “Now the next question is who will host the soap awards? Allison Hammond?.”
Tonight it was revealed that Phillip has been dropped by his agent after the affair with the male ITV employee was exposed, which was not illegal.
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Read more on Phillip Schofield:
- Phillip Schofield admitted he had affair with a much younger male This Morning employee,
- Schofield apologised to his wife Stephanie Lowe,
- Read Schofield's statement in full,
- The star's agency revealed why they dropped him,
- Schofield resigned from ITV and stepped down from presenting the British Soap Awards.
In a statement, he 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.
"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."
They remained together after he revealed he was 2020.
And 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.
"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."
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In a statement through his agency as he was dropped, Schofield added: “It is with the most profound regret that after 35 years of being faultlessly managed by YMU I have agreed to step down from their representation with immediate effect.”
It’s understood the younger man is not a public figure and did not want the relationship to be made public.
