Phillip Schofield has resigned from ITV after admitting he lied about a relationship he had with "a younger male colleague" at the channel's This Morning breakfast show.
The veteran TV presenter, 61, announced he was stepping down from presenting the ITV talk show with "immediate effect" last weekend, while it was announced his co-presenter Holly Willoughby will remain on the show, but is taking early half-term holiday leave.
In a statement released through the Daily Mail, Mr Schofield apologised for lying about the relationship.
He added that the relationship was "unwise, but not illegal".
"The first thing I want to say is: I am deeply sorry for having lied to them (the Daily Mail), and to many others about a relationship that I had with someone working on This Morning," he said.
"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."
The presenter added: "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."
Source: Press Association
