Sex, scandal and scores to settle — ITV’s long night of the soul

Phillip Schofield's confession of an affair with a This Morning runner unleashed a torrent of allegations about a toxic work environment and trouble at the top of ITV. Stephen Armstrong reports on a channel in turmoil

IS the Phillip Schofield scandal a watershed moment for ITV? Accusations against the broadcaster over duty of care potentially go right to the top, with chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall called to answer questions in Parliament over the affair.

The rumble of stories around Schofield's 'unwise but not illegal' affair with a junior colleague is entering its second month and shows no sign of dying down. Holly Willoughby choked back tears as she returned to the show yesterday, telling viewers "I imagine that you might have been feeling a lot like I have: shaken, troubled, let down, worried for the wellbeing of people on all sides of what's been going on, and full of questions."

The mood of the team at This Morning's studio is "muted and terrified," one insider says. "Everyone thinks heads will roll, it's just a question of how high up or whether they'll do what they always do and make those lower down suffer. People are thinking they'll just cancel the show and therefore put everyone out of work."

This Morning boss Martin Frizell spent the weekend denying reports that the show had a toxic culture despite claims from presenter Eammon Holmes and Dr Ranj Singh, This Morning's former resident doctor. Originally from Glasgow, the 64-year-old producer and editor was accused by Singh of edging him out after he raised concerns about Frizell's behaviour and the bullying environment at This Morning.

One former colleague accused Frizell of "only valuing the stars," "verbally abusing people, slamming papers on desk and shouting in the office." Another told the Standard that "working there was like being back at school and being yelled at daily with sexist comments flying. Live TV is pressured, the stars were everything and complaining would have been detrimental to my career."