Dr. Ranj Singh has issued a formal statement after a photo surfaced this week showing him alongside disgraced former This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield’s young lover.
Singh worked on the show for six years as a live-in medical expert alongside Schofield and his co-host Holly Willoughby before stepping down in 2022.
Veteran TV presenter Schofield, 61, resigned from ITV on Friday and was subsequently dropped by his talent agency YMU after admitting to having an “ill-advised, but not illegal” affair with a young male colleague on This Morning.
Singh said that two years ago when he worked there, he raised concerns about “bullying and discrimination” when he worked there and afterwards felt he had been “outed” for whistleblowing.
He has since moved to defend himself after a six-year-old selfie snapped by Singh featuring the young runner at the center of Schofield’s departure surfaced online.
Speaking Out: Dr. Ranj Singh has issued a formal statement after a photo showing himself next to disgraced former This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield’s young lover resurfaced this week
He wrote on Twitter: “It is sad that there are people who try to do damage and insinuate things from an innocent image.
So here are some facts: (Phil’s ex) and I worked together on This Morning. He was 21 when we took this photo in the studio. And it was clearly taken as a joke.’
Singh’s post comes just days after he became the last ex-colleague to condemn the show.
In a lengthy social media post, he wrote, “I was on the show for 10 years and I really loved and appreciated working there. However, over time I started to worry more and more about how things were behind the scenes and how people, including myself, were treated.
“I didn’t know the truth about what was going on with Phillip, but I do know that the problems with TM (This Morning) go way beyond him.
“It takes more than one person to create a culture.”
Singh said he had raised concerns with senior executives at ITV as he had been heavily involved in “diversity, anti-bullying and mental health projects” across the channel.
“Then I noticed I was being used less and less,” he continued. “I even took my concerns straight to the top of ITV: the culture at This Morning had become toxic, no longer in line with ITV values, and I felt that because I whistled I was being led out.
Familiar face: Singh spent six years on the show as a resident medical expert alongside Schofield and his co-host Holly Willoughby before stepping down in 2022
Speaking out: The television doctor previously confirmed he had taken his concerns about the behavior of editors and senior producers to ITV and subsequently seen his screen time drop
Old times: Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby with Dr Ranj on This Morning in 2019. The TV doctor said he felt he had to say something
“But as history and experience have taught us, things like bullying and discrimination are very hard to prove, especially in hindsight and when those in power dictate the narrative.
“As we’ve seen, no assessment or research is foolproof.”
The doctor said he was confident things would be addressed and changes would be made, but that he hasn’t worked on the show since – adding that two years after filing complaints “it still hurts do”.
An ITV spokesperson said: ‘We are sorry to hear from Dr. Ranj to read today. At ITV, we are fully committed to providing everyone who works with us with every opportunity to express any concerns or comments.
“Following a complaint from Dr Ranj, we have appointed an outside and independent consultant to conduct an investigation. This external review found no evidence of bullying or discrimination.”
According to The Mail on Sunday, Schofield first met the younger ITV colleague with whom he later had an affair when he was 15.
Lawyers representing Schofield have confirmed they met when the boy was 15, but say the affair started after he started working at ITV, and the man’s lawyers have also said it started after he joined the broadcaster.
In a statement on Friday, Schofield said it was when the younger man joined the show as an adult that their affair began.
Over and out: Schofield has relinquished all ties to ITV after stepping down last week
Playtime: Schofield with a younger colleague who became his lover and left The Ivy Club, London
The 61-year-old presenter left ITV on Friday after admitting to the Daily Mail that he had lied about an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a much younger man. His co-host of 13 years Holly said it was ‘hurt’ to find out she had been lied to
ITV said it had investigated “rumours of a relationship” between Schofield and the ITV employee about three years ago, but both parties “categorically and repeatedly denied”.
A spokesman for the broadcaster said on Saturday that ITV “has not foreseen and found no evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and hearsay” when it investigated the matter in 2020.
“Phillip’s statement yesterday reveals that he has lied to people at ITV from senior management to fellow presenters, to YMU, to the media and to others about this relationship,” they added.
The broadcaster also said it was “deeply disappointed” by Schofield’s “confessions of cheating” after speaking publicly about the affair.
Longtime co-host Holly Willoughby said in an Instagram story posted on Saturday: “When reports of this relationship first surfaced, I directly asked Phil if this was true and was told it wasn’t. so was.
“It’s very painful to find out now that this was a lie.”
In his own statement, Schofield apologized for lying about the relationship.
“The first thing I want to say is: I am deeply sorry that I lied to them (the Daily Mail) and to many others about a relationship I had with someone who worked on This Morning,” he said.
“I did have a consensual, on-again, off-again relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning.”
He continued, “In an effort to protect my ex-colleague, I have not been honest about the relationship.
“But my recent unrelated departure from This Morning fueled speculation and raised questions that have affected him, so for him it’s important for me to be honest now.”
Singh is not the only This Morning presenter caught in the wake of Friday’s admission that Schofield had an ‘ill-advised but not illegal’ relationship with a younger male colleague.
Co-host Holly Willoughby, who will officially be back on the show on Monday, June 5 after a two-week family vacation, could extend her time off in a desperate attempt to avoid being dragged into further controversy, PR guru has said. Mark Borkowski said.
The team behind ITV’s golden girl, including her advisers, agents and lawyers, will now have to ‘come up with the goods’ to ensure her future, he claimed.
Mr Borkowski told MailOnline: ‘For Holly it’s a matter of staying out of the headlines, taking time out. Disappear from public view.
“Obviously she’s not going to be doing TV right now, maybe she’ll extend that. She’s the girl next door. She’s got huge commercial deals, obviously a talent, obviously loved.”
