Richard Madeley has slammed Phillip Schofield's "savage" and "brutal" dismissal from 'This Morning'.
Richard Madeley has defended Phillip Schofield
The 'Good Morning Britain' host is still in touch with the 61-year-old presenter - who left the ITV daytime show in May after over 20 years following the revelation he'd had an extra-marital affair with a younger male assistant on the programme - and has offered him words of support in the wake of the scandal.
He told The Sun newspaper's TVBiz column: "I feel very sorry for Phillip - it seemed a pretty savage outcome after 21 years [in the job].
“It seemed quite brutal to be honest. I took a paternal interest in it - I kept in touch, told him to take it easy and that it’ll be all right.
"He agreed. All things pass in the end.
“We’ve all been through terrible experiences and the worst ones are the phones that come out of a clear blue sky and you don’t see them coming.
“Politicians say they’re only one debate away from a catastrophe and it’s the same in our industry.”
The 67-year-old star himself hosted 'This Morning' from 1988 to 2001 alongside wife Judy Finnegan and enjoyed guest stints back on the sofa in 2019 and 2020, but he's ruled out making a permanent return to take over permanently from Phillip.
He said: “I enjoyed it but wouldn’t go back.”
In the wake of his departure, Phillip admitted he had "massive guilt" over his fling, but was adamant that nothing inappropriate had occurred despite the age gap.
In an interview with The Sun, he said: "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.”
Tagged in Phillip Schofield Richard Madeley