PHILLIP Schofield’s young ITV lover’s life is “in tatters” and he “has been struggling”, according to reports.
The former This Morning host, 61, admitted to the affair and lying to his ITV employers in an extraordinary mea culpa last May.
It was revealed yesterday Schofield paid his ex-lover, who is 34 years his junior, a six-figure sum in a deal.
The arrangement with his ex now mutually gags both Phillip and the man from ever talking about their relationship.
A representative for Schofield confirmed a deal was signed last year, including payment to compensate the man for losses suffered, the Mail on Sunday reported.
And now it has emerged that the younger male colleague is still attempting to put his life back together.
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“Now it turns out he has been gagged. It all seems very unfair,” a former colleague told MailOnline.
“He has been struggling for some time, he had a lot of friends at ITV and we often think about him and hope he is doing OK.
“It has been tumultuous for him, just when he was getting his life sorted.”
A friend of the runner — identified only as Person X — also said having no option to speak out because he was persuaded to sign an NDA was “cruel”.
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In comparison, Schofield was able to discuss his “unwise but not illegal” relationship in a series of interviews last year.
A source said the payout was part of an agreement that also included an NDA preventing both men from talking about the scandal.
The scandal brought the presenter’s decades-long TV career to an ignominious end last year.
The man was just 15 when he met Schofield, who helped him land a job as a runner on This Morning at the age of 19.
A romantic relationship between the pair began when the man was 20, after which he moved to another ITV daytime show, Loose Women.
He later left the channel with a separate payout.
Speaking to the Sun last June, Schofield told of his struggles.
He said: “You watch all these layers of you slide away and slide away and slide away.
“The things that were dear to you. But I deserve it. It’s my fault. I deserve it.”
He also vowed never to use social media again.
The news follows ITV announcing Phillip and former co-star Holly Willoughby’s permanent replacement on This Morning.
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Ben Shephard is swapping the Good Morning Britain studio for its sister show, while Cat Deeley is quitting the US to co-host the show.
The duo are said to have signed packages of £550,000 a year, £150,000 less than their predecessors.
