Lorraine Kelly shares update on Phillip Schofield as she reveals they are still in touch:'It's hard'

Lorraine Kelly was "heartbroken" over the Phillip Schofield scandal at ITV.

The 64-year-old presenter had worked alongside former 'This Morning' host Phillip, 61, for decades when he announced his decision to leave the network in June 2023 after it emerged that he had had an extramarital affair with a younger male colleague.

Now, Lorraine - who fronts her self-titled chat show which serves as a lead-in to 'This Morning' and follows 'Good Morning Britain - has remembered her former colleague as "generous" and revealed that she is still in touch with him, noting that he is "doing all right" in the days since his TV career came to an abrupt end.

She told The Sunday Times: "I think everybody lost their minds a wee bit. He was generous. Not all men are, particularly male presenters, but he was. I was heartbroken when all that happened. It’s just a shame for the amazing career that he’s had, for it to end like that.

"He’s doing all right and he will be all right, but it’s hard."

At the time he left 'This Morning', Phillip had fronted the magazine show alongside Holly Willoughby, 43, for more than a decade but she was also forced to take time out from her job when it emerged that a man was arrested for allegedly plotting to kidnap and murder her.

She eventually left her long-running role as host of the show but returned to screens to resume fronting the Sunday night competition 'Dancing on Ice' in January, this time joined by 'Deal or No Deal' host Stephen Mulhern, and Lorraine admitted that she feels "desperately sorry" for Holly but is pleased to have her back at ITV.

She said: "I feel desperately sorry for Holly. I don’t even know the half of it, but it’s just really lovely that she’s back."

Phillip - who has daughters Molly, 31, and 28-year-old Ruby with wife Stephanie Lowe - confirmed that he had had an "unwise but not illegal" affair with a young man who worked alongside him and admitted he was "deeply sorry" for his dishonest behaviour.

He said: "The first thing I want to say is: I am deeply sorry for having lied to them, and to many others about a relationship that I had with someone working on ‘This Morning’.

“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.”