By Tony O’Reilly-
Eamonn Holmes has been accused of defamation of character, after claiming that ITV bosses were aware of the sexual relationship between Scofield and a younger runner on the show whom the television presenter met at the age of 15.
The GB News presenter, who formerly hosted the Friday editions of This Morning opposite his wife Ruth Langsford, made his feelings about ITV bosses clear on Twitter last month after Schofield admitted to his affair.
His claims were rubbished by bosses at the inquiry into the scandal, who hinted at the potential for litigation over the comments from the former television presenter.
Holmes tweeted at the time: “Four high members of ITV management knew what sort of man he [Schofield] was and NEVER once took action to prevent him controlling or taking advantage of his position over young people.”
When challenged by the Sports and Culture Committee who summoned ITV bosses for questioning over its handling of the affair, Kevin Lygo and Dame Carolyn McCall pushed back on this strongly. “It’s actually defamatory, never mind anything else,” Dame Carolyn said.
Lygo suggested that such allegations often come from disgruntled former presenters who were upset about losing their previous ITV jobs.
“A lot of these people worked as presenters on ITV for a very long time, and there was never any complaint from them whilst they were there. If anything they wanted ‘more work please, we love it here, can we do more’,” he said.
Lygo acknowledged it can sometimes be tough for presenters when they are moved on. “It’s not surprising that when they go, they’re suddenly like ‘Oh I hate ITV, it’s awful’, when for decade or more, they were there reaping the rewards and enjoying the job.”
Lygo did not say he would actually pursue a defamatory claim, but the accusation is strong enough to either keep Holmes quiet, or risk litigation relating to defamation.
.Holmes has been very critical of the broadcaster, accusing practically all parties of a cover up concerning the affair, directly undermining the defence of bosses.
It remains to be seen how the former presenter reacts to the claim of defamation.
McCall told the committee that if ITV had known the facts at the time, the broadcaster would have “acted very swiftly”.