Philip Schofield interview on BBC News/iplayer now.

[JeandeServiette]

Anyone else watching?

I wasn't supposed to be up this early but what the heck.

He had a sexual affair with a teenager whilst he was in his 50s. A junior on his show. You'd think he'd have know better from all the other celebs he'll have criticised for their dodgy behaviour.

It is incredibly disturbing that this is your take on parents being concerned about grooming and a much older powerful man using his position to get what he wanted- sex- from a. ,much younger vulnerable person.

Those that think this is 'hounding him to death', what do you think an actual appropriate response to this is? Look the other way?

I haven’t watched it yet , just read the article on BBC but if something happened 5 or 6 times it’s not one mistake he’s done and it’s not accidental - it’s a pattern of behaviour.

I'm very concerned about grooming and protecting anybody from sexual exploitation and abuse.

However, it looks like grooming, but it is unproved at this point.

However, I do not feel going at someone on public forums with assumptions and speculation - until they commit suicide is the answer.

It looks like the mumsnet script that was trialled out on here last week with all the Scof threads.

1. Homophobia

Where 🤔? Most of his biggest critics have been gay men. It is also such bullshit as people call out older male celebs with younger women. This is the post me too/ Winstein era.

1. Caroline Flack

Threatening suicide to shut down conversation. Have the police said they are going to arrest him or even investigate?

1. Not a big deal

Its consensual and legal so why do you care. .? Because it is a form of grooming, because it is a massive power imbalance. Because you lied and got him moved after you were finished with him.

Ooo they are talking about it in This Morning,!

Thank you @Zonder for the proper link sorry.

Nope can't watch Alison is crying Dermot Is inwardly eye rolling !

I've just watched it. Yes, bit of 'poor me' but I can't imagine anyone in his position not feeling a bit of that. I don't know much about PS so hard to say if he was lying. My gut feeling is he's telling the truth in the interview. I thought he was straightforward and clear in answering questions, gave very direct answers and blamed no one but himself. He made no attempt to have a go at Homes, Wootton or anyone else.

I'm more inclined to believe him because I have no time for Eamonn Homes, Dan Wootton, Rav Singh and Amanda Holden. They are all attention-seeking, and Homes and Wootton are vindictive, embittered and vengeful (plus they work for GB News which is News Tat and appalling politically and morally in my view).

Time PS was left to it.

I'd say if the person wants to report grooming then he is free to do so in order for a Police investigation to take place. That is his choice though and should be respected, without his compliance I doubt any Police investigation would work.

I think ITV have ordered an external investigation, which is proportionate.

I think ITV will need to develop measures to prevent these situations occuring again in their workplace.

The problem with grooming is that historically in many cases the victims themselves are not seen as victims and are blamed for the grooming or told that they encouraged the attention/abuse. You only have to look at the Rotherham girls who were treated terribly by the police and it went on for years.

It is not right to exploit children whoever you are. It's fine to send a fan one or two communications but to follow children on social media and to constantly message children is not right. Unfortunately PS still believes he did nothing wrong because when he started sleeping with MM he was over the age of consent. You can then see why so many posters also can't see the problem as they are only looking at it from the age of consent issue.

How would you feel if a 50 year old man was messaging your teenage child? I know I would not be happy about that at all.

I think we need to know the results of the ITV enquiry. Apparently they have taken on an independent barrister to investigate.

The problem is that, despicable though his actions appear to be, they have not as yet been proven to be illegal; but do they breach his employment contract? Have ITV breached a duty of care to its interns and other employees? Are there other people in management involved? Can consensuality be proved given a particular set of circumstances? It’s all up in the air atm.

Whether ITV should be investigating itself is another question?

No. He said he never saw him from 15-19 and the relationship became sexual when the young man was 20/21 (5 or 6 occasions, the first being a kiss).

Those that think this is 'hounding him to death', what do you think an actual appropriate response to this is? Look the other way?

And there we have it. Two extremes. Black or white. Because of course there are only two options. We either have to hound him to death, or look the other way.

MM was under the impression that he was in an actual relationship with a boyfriend. By some accounts, he confessed his love for PS to HW after the NTAs in 2020. If you look at MMs videos, he is clearly in awe of him, just like a grooming victim. Other cases have proven that grooming absolutely can happen online. A fifteen year old needs career advice - what? Four years of it. How much was there to say? Unless it was not career advice but a whole load of showing off, building trust and familiarity, garnering admiration, respect and trust of somebody young, desperate for a career in your field, willing to do anything. Guess what that is? Grooming

Grooming doesn't even have to end in a sexual relationship but a sexual relationship which started off by four years of banter between a man in his fifties and a teenage boy. Get real.

All of this is exactly what I've been thinking.

That is just as inappropriate its the same as someone kissing somebody that was in their brownie pack or drama group as a child and let's not forget he was a patron of the youth drama group that this boy was involved with.

I think Phil is smoothing out some of the details. He didn't give straight answers at points. Really not a great interview.

^Did you flirt over twitter?
Not to my knowledge/recollection. ^

Big pauses as he tries to phrase things better.
^What's the difference between this and grooming?
Pfft...........................I was offering a job^

Not answering questions straight:
^When did you last talk to x
So there was this one time when...^

Blaming homophobia when in reality, he's probably got off lighter.

It's all Think of my daughters and what the media have put us through

Do few bad that Holly just abandoned him without even a reply!! That's cold.

Hated that piece on this morning (which I caught by accident) the poor Philip narrative really come through from AH and GB. As usual, the victims are forgotten in the name of ‘be kind’. Whilst I feel DL did try to bring some balance, he was quickly shut down by the other female commentator

Comparing this to Cheryl and Liam Payne totally misses the point of what grooming is.

Cheryl did not cultivate and keep a relationship going with Liam from when he was 14 and she was not making his career for him. They met up again as adults when he was arguably a lot more famous than she was. The power dynamic is not the same. I personally find it a bit icky, but it’s not in anything like the same league as this.

This is much more similar to the Prince Andrew case or even Clinton/Lewinsky. Lewinsky was very much an adult when Clinton met her and the relationship still got him impeached back in the 90s. I’d like to think today it would be enough to lose him his job, as it was a disgusting abuse of power. This case is much more similar to that with the added factor of MM being a child when they first met. There’s a lot of similarities, right down to having MM moved on to another job when it looked like he might become an issue. Gross!

Why should anybody take the bait and shut down the conversation. there are unanswered questions. MM is the vulnerable one by all accounts, not PS who cruelly dismissed it as "friendship" and nothing more significant. As for doing it five times, well, that is a classic line. Nobody can actually prove or disprove that so five years of rampant sexual activity often ends up with a description like that to manipulate public perceptions. If they were drinking and doing drugs every Thursday night and a taxi was collecting MM on Fridays, is that really likely?

A Prince Andrew interview. Disgusting. A disgusting man.

Yes I had to turn it off Dermot was trying to bring it round to a discussion.

I watched it all and didn't believe a word of it. I thought bringing up suicide and Flack in particular was manipulative, basically threatening the media with killing himself if they don't lay off. The way he put the onus on his daughters to stop him was awful, those poor women. I don't actually believe he is suicidal but he's using it as leverage. What kind of person threatens it in that way?

I thought he was careful to word some things very particularly, just in case MM does eventually speak out. I think he massively underplayed the extent of their relationship and the huge mea culpa was an act to try and gain sympathy.

Odious little man. I too believe he has struck a deal with ITV/Holly to take the hit and get the pressure off of them.