Carol McGiffin claims Loose Women runner was SACKED to make way for Phillip Schofield’s lover after he left This Morning

, the star said their "great" runner was dropped from his position when Schofield's teen lover moved shows.

Carol said: "Everybody was really quite upset about it because you know everybody loved him and he was a great runner.

"One day I got a text message and it was from the young man in question and he said 'I'm the new productions secretary at Loose Women'.

"I thought, 'hang on a minute what's happened here'. I didn't even know that he had gone at the time.

"He was a great guy [and then] he disappeared."

Carol said rumours were circulating at the time of the runner's affair with Schofield, 61.

The ex-This Morning star has seen his career skydive in just a few weeks after he was forced out of This Morning before quitting ITV altogether.

Schofield exited the sofa after his brother Tim was outed as a peado.

Just six days later, he made a bombshell revelation about an affair he had with a teen colleague while he was married.

Schofield as since sat down with The Sun revealing the moment he participated in the affair.

The former presenter insisted he had not groomed the boy.

Talking to The Sun and visibly shaking, Phillip says: “I did not, I did not (groom him).

“There are accusations of all sorts of things. It never came across that way (an abuse of power) because we’d become mates. I don’t know about that.

“But of course I understand that there will be a massive judgment, but bearing in mind, I have never exercised that anywhere else.

“I assume somebody, somewhere, assumed something was going on, correctly, and didn’t say anything.

“At the time I did not think about it possibly ruining my career. I really probably only thought about it when I saw the rumour mill, and saw it growing.

“Then I saw the link with the drama school photo all those years before, and thought, ‘This looks shocking’.

“But I didn’t lie to protect my career, he didn’t want his name in public. He wanted his own life.

“The lies grew bigger and bigger and bigger and it was affecting both of us deeply.

“It got to the stage where it was out of control and for whatever cost, it had to stop.

“I have massive guilt, and regret. I’ve made a mistake, I’ve had an affair at work.”