ITV shares fall in wake of Schofield exit from broadcaster

Philip Schofield resigned from ITV last week, saying he had an 'unwise but not illegal' relationship with his colleague, who was a teenager when the presenter first met him.

Phillip Schofield quit after admitting to lying to the broadcaster about a relationship with a young worker on daytime show This Morning.

Shares in ITV hit a five-month low after one of its biggest names, Phillip Schofield, quit after admitting to lying to the broadcaster about a relationship with a young worker on daytime show This Morning.

Mr Schofield, a TV star in Britain for more than three decades, resigned from ITV last week, saying he had an "unwise but not illegal" relationship with his colleague, who was a teenager when the presenter first met him.

Shares in ITV fell as much as 1.3% before later paring losses, on the first trading day after the UK bank holiday break.     

"Although the drama has concentrated minds about the need for consistently popular content... which keeps eyes on screen and advertising revenues returning, this is being viewed as a short-term hiccup rather than a longer-term problem," Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said.

The affair has raised questions about abuse of power in the entertainment industry and the culture at the broadcaster, which is led by chief executive Carolyn McCall.

A previous presenter on the show, Eamonn Holmes, has said on Twitter that four high-up members of ITV's management knew "what sort of man" Mr Schofield was and never took any action to prevent him taking advantage of his position.

ITV, Britain's biggest free-to-air commercial broadcaster, said in a statement on Saturday it had investigated rumours of a relationship between the 61-year-old star and the young worker in 2020, but both parties had denied the allegations. 

• Reuters