If it had been a girl she would have been reported as having had far more agency in the whole thing.
Yes. Look at Virginia Giuffre.
Had the runner been female then Patriarchy dictates the reframing of the mentee as a Lolita/money grabber/sleeping her way to the top/bitter/kiss n tell blackmailer/Fatal Attraction psycho bunny. Have I missed any out?
Whereas I have only seen one paparazzo account that is disparaging to the runner, along the lines of how very dare he threaten to expose the affair?
I think the 34 year age gap, the work experience/patronage, the NDA/pay off and the orchestrated coming out have all played their part in sceptical people condemning the affair. That the couple are gay is by the by except for self-imposed reporting restrictions no longer doxxing/outing people.
Had the press publicly outed Phil, there may have been an outcry (see Rebel Wilson).
Had the co-workers done anything other than applaud Phil's coming out, then they would have been deemed homophobic.
Even co-presenters who were openly gay at the time - Ranj, Rylan, Dan - were put into a tricky situation. Do you call him out, understanding that twink/cub-bear/gerontophilia are not uncommon sub-cultures?
Do you call him out, knowing the history of homophobia that gay = predatory/pederast? Do you really want to add to that?
Phil's coming out itself was deeply cynical - note that it did not work for Kevin Spacey - Holly could have refused to go along with it.
Add to that a work-culture of playing hard, the runner not necessarily perceiving themselves as gay when they joined TM and the abuse of power in sleeping with a protégé you're mentoring: it's little wonder that it has become a scandal.
Timing is everything. Three years ago, # be kind and lockdowns played into ITV's hands. They had successfully taken the heat off Phil and made the story go away.
Three years later - and Phil's brother being a convicted paedophile - the writing was on the wall. Holly's PR recognised that weeks ago hence the desperate bid to extricate her.