Caroline Flack’s mother criticises ITV over Phillip Schofield departure

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Caroline Flack’s mother has criticised ITV over the way it handled Phillip Schofield’s departure and said it has “learned nothing” from her daughter’s death.

Christine Flack, whose daughter previously hosted ITV’s Love Island, said the broadcaster treated on-screen talent as “commodities” and that Schofield and the young man he had an affair with “should have been looked after”.

It comes after former This Morning presenter Schofield, 61, resigned from ITV last week after admitting he had lied to the broadcaster, his colleagues and agency about an “unwise but not illegal relationship” with a younger male colleague at the daytime programme.

She told BBC Two’s Newsnight: “I know it’s a lovely job and they earn money. But also the television stations earn money from them … they’re not commodities, they’re people. I hate the thought that Phillip and this young man are going through such an awful time.

“It’s bad enough when it’s in private, but when it’s in every single paper and first thing on the news, it’s just ridiculous. Wait to see what happens. Let’s hope for the best. I send my regards to Phillip and the young lad, and hope they get over this. Don’t do anything silly.”

The ITV boss, Carolyn McCall, has been called to a parliamentary committee on 14 June to answer questions about the broadcaster’s approach to safeguarding and complaint handling after Schofield’s exit.

Caroline Flack was found dead in her east London flat in February 2020 at the age of 40.

A coroner ruled she killed herself after learning prosecutors were going to press ahead with an assault charge after an incident involving her boyfriend Lewis Burton.

In an interview Schofield gave to the BBC’s Amol Rajan on Friday, he said he understood how Flack had felt, saying: “If my daughters hadn’t been there, then I wouldn’t be here.”

He said his daughters, Ruby and Molly, “guarded me and won’t let me out of their sight”.

Christine Flack told Newsnight: “He knew Caroline and I must say, when she died, he was very upset. And I think he’s now realising even more what she went through. Being in the media, he knew what she was going through.

“But until it happens to you, you feel sad but you don’t understand. He’s trying to put things straight. But I don’t think it will end there. I hope he’s done the right thing. I hope he feels better. I hope people now will let it settle. He’s lost his job, he’s lost his world. I think that’s enough. I think that’s enough for anybody.”

In Friday’s interview with the BBC, Schofield admitted his career in television was over and spoke about the “relentless” coverage he had faced in the press and with online speculation.

Caroline’s mother said it was “exactly” how her daughter, who faced a barrage of negative media coverage before her death, felt about her own situation.

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She added: “Every day, she would try to be a bit stronger, which I should imagine Phillip is. But you get more and more thrown at you. It’s not only him, it is his daughters. Luckily, he’s got them there for support. But it’s his family. His wife, his mum. Everyone that’s around him. Everybody suffers – but not as much as him.”

In a separate interview published on Friday with the Sun, Schofield said he was afraid to leave the house. He told the paper he had not previously suffered abuse in the street, but feared being shouted at or spat on. He asks: “Are they spitting on me because I had an affair at work and lied about it?”

In a statement, ITV said: “The relationships we have with those we work with are based on trust. Phillip made assurances to us and his agency which he now acknowledges were untrue and we feel badly let down.

“As a producer and broadcaster, ITV takes its responsibilities around duty of care seriously and has robust and well-established processes in place to support the mental and physical health of employees and all those we work with.”

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.