Alison Hammond burst into tears during Friday’s This Morning following Phillip Schofield’s no holds barred interview on the BBC.
On Thursday, Schofield was questioned by Amol Rajan about his This Morning departure and resignation from ITV over an affair with a young runner.
This Morning played two clips from the interview, which included when Schofield asked, ‘How much are you supposed to take?’ in reference to the backlash, and revealed the ‘catastrophic effect’ it’s had on his mind.
Schofield, 61, said: ‘Do you want me to die? Because that’s where I am.’
He also spoke about his daughters Ruby and Molly Lowe’s round-the-clock care for him.
‘If my girls hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t be here because I don’t see a future.’
Alison, 48, began to cry after watching the short segment from his interview.
‘I’m finding this really painful,’ she revealed. ‘I loved Phillip Schofield. It’s weird because I still love Phillip Schofield.’
She added that she knew what he did wasn’t right.
‘However, what he’s done is wrong. He’s admitted it. He’s said sorry. As a family, we’re really struggling to process everything. I never know what to say.’
The presenter recalled some advice from her late mum, who told her to ‘use the bible as your sat nav,’ and remember ‘those without sin cast the first stone.’
‘I don’t want to say anything bad because obviously, I’m in conflict,’ she concluded.
Later she added: ‘There’s only so much any man can take, and I don’t want any death in this situation.’
Dermot O’Leary echoed her sentiments saying: ‘It’s very difficult for us to cover this story – he’s a friend and a colleague.’
The 50-year-old also praised the interviewer Rajan for showing ’empathy’, but also holding him to account.
He highlighted that ‘what Phil’s done is wrong,’ before he said ‘at the same time-‘.
Regular guest Gyles Brandreth interjected with ‘it’s a human story.’
Schofield was a long-time presenter of the ITV breakfast programme but left the show last month and resigned from the broadcaster altogether a week later after admitting he had an ‘unwise but not illegal’ relationship with a runner on the show.
The pair had met when the young man was 15, but Schofield said that the affair only began when he was 20 years old, however, he said he did lie about the nature of their relationship to his bosses and colleagues.
