The young lover Phillip Schofield had an inappropriate relationship with whilst on This Morning has "been struggling" after signing a gagging order worth over £100k.
Schofield, 61, admitted to the relationship after leaving the hit ITV show in May last year. He quit This Morning after his brother's court case, before leaving ITV altogether after admitting to his affair.
He added in a statement that he had lied to several of his ITV bosses and his good pal Holly, which prompted him to leave the channel. But now it's reported that his former lover, who is some 34 years younger than Phil, has signed a non-disclosure agreement, gagging him from talking about the affair.
READ MORE: Phillip Schofield paid younger lover 'six figure sum' to keep quiet about romance
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The deal means that neither Phillip nor the lover will ever be able to discuss their relationship. According to the Mail on Sunday, Schofield's representatives confirmed that the arrangement was agreed and signed last year, and that Phil had forked out compensation for the man for the losses he had endured after the relationship went public.
But since the deal was signed, it has been revealed that the male colleague is still trying to get his life back on track following the debacle. A former co-worker of the man said: "It turns out he has been gagged; it all seems very unfair.
"He has been struggling for some time, he had a lot of friends at ITV and we often think about him and hope he is doing OK. It has been tumultuous for him, just when he was getting his life sorted," they added.
Another friend of the colleague, whom the newspaper named Person X, said that the arrangement is "cruel" to the man, after being persuaded to sign on the dotted line. This is in stark contrast to Schofield who told his side of the story, describing the encounters as "unwise but not illegal".
An insider close to the pair said that the £100k was part of a deal that also included the gagging order. As a result, neither Phil nor the man he had the affair with are allowed to speak out on the matter.
Phil left This Morning after over 20 years on the blue sofa, where he had hosted with the likes of Holly Willoughby and Fearne Britton. It was revealed that Schofield had helped bag the man a job when he was aged just 19.
A romantic relationship soon blossomed between the two when the man was 20, but after a short stint at working together on the show, the man moved over to fellow show Loose Women. After the relationship was found out, he also left the show, receiving his own payout.
After this, This Morning was plunged into chaos as the show scrambled to find a new pair of presenters. After nearly a year of relief presenters stepping in, it was announced last week that Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley would become the show's new flagship presenters, signing contracts worth £550k a year.
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