OHMYGOSSIP — ITV has hired a top lawyer to review the company’s handling of the Phillip Schofield affair.
Jane Mulcahy KC has been hired by the broadcaster to carry out an external review of the scandal, which led to Schofield’s exit from ‘This Morning’ after more than two decades on the show.
Dame Carolyn McCall, the chief executive of ITV, says in a letter to Ofcom: “ITV spoke to a number of people who worked on the ‘This Morning’ and wider Daytime team and were not provided with, and did not find any evidence of, a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour.
“Given the ongoing rumours, we continued to ask questions of both parties, who both continued to deny the rumours, including as recently as this month.”
Dame Carolyn also revealed that ITV has offered support to the former employee whom Schofield had an affair with.
She says: “The ITV employee was aged 19 when he first did work experience at ‘This Morning’ in 2015 and 20 years old when he applied and succeeded in securing a job as a runner on the show.
“He subsequently applied for and was successful in securing a promotion to ‘Loose Women’ in 2019. He left ITV in 2021.
“As you would imagine given the social media scrutiny of him, we have offered him our support throughout this period and indeed are still doing so.
“The employee has made it clear that he does not wish to be named or identified in connection with this matter. We would be grateful if you would be mindful of this.
“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.”
ITV has now turned to a legal expert in a bid to “establish the facts”.
Dame Carolyn wrote: “We have now instructed Jane Mulcahy KC (Blackstone Chambers) to carry out an external review to establish the facts.
“She will review our records and talk to people involved. This work will also consider our relevant processes and policies and whether we need to change or strengthen any.
“Given Phillip’s admission of the extent of his deception the work will extend to cover any related issues that may emerge. This work will be carried out as quickly as possible and we will be happy to share the outcome.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Kerry Katona has claimed she was left “suicidal” after appearing on ‘This Morning’
The 42-year-old star appeared on the ITV daytime show in 2008 where she appeared to have been slurring her words and later explained it was a side effect of the medication she was taking at the time but was left embroiled in a public feud with host Phillip Schofield – who stepped down from the show last week after 20 years amid rumours of a feud with Holly Willoughby and shortly after admitted he had an “unwise but not illegal” extramarital affair with a younger male colleague – admitted that her appearance left her so low because there was a lack of “aftercare” from the broadcaster.
Speaking on GB News’ ‘Dan Wooton Tonight’, she said: “I’m not here to jump on the bandwagon and pull Phillip Schofield down, we actually did kiss and make up. When he came out, I sent him a text saying he was very brave so I don’t wanna be a two-faced person, I have moved on from that. What I am here to say is that the culture at ITV and the toxicity, and the aftercare is so lack-of that I was left suicidal. No one reached out to me whatsoever, it was so disgusting!
“When I got home after that interview, it was like a crime scene. There were reporters, camera crews, and paparazzi. ITV never once reached out to me and said ‘Kerry, can we help you in any way? Could you just explain to us what bipolar is and what is the medication you’re on?’ Nobody wanted to work with me again and I’ve been very fortunate and lucy enough that I’ve turned my life around.”
The former Atomic Kitten singer went on to add that her “stomach turns” whenever she thinks about Phillip because of the “scrutiny” he will be under amid the scandal and reiterated that she just wants to vocalise the “toxic” atmosphere she has experienced when working at the studio.
She added: “They all need ripping down, bringing down off their pedestals and it all needs revamping completely. My stomach turns every time I think about Phil and the scrutiny he’s going through. I don’t wish this on anybody, I really, really don’t. I’m not here to go ‘Haha, karma’s a b**** and it bites hard!’ I’m not here for that. I’m here to vocalise the toxicity. ”
Kerry – who has been open about overcoming addiction over the years – went on to add that the viral interview where she appeared to be slurring her words has had a lasting impact on her career.
She added: “Even now, when I look at that video, I feel so ashamed and feel so hard done by. For 10 years, I’ve had to justify myself. I’ve shoved enough s*** up my nose to last a lifetime and I’ve drank til the cows come home, I’ve got no reason to lie. I’m 43 this year and even today I still have to justify myself for that interview!”
“Her comments come amid revelations that Jane Mulcahy KC has been hired by the broadcaster to carry out an external review of the scandal, which led to Schofield’s exit from ‘This Morning’ after more than two decades on the show.
Dame Carolyn McCall, the chief executive of ITV, says in a letter to Ofcom: “ITV spoke to a number of people who worked on the ‘This Morning’ and wider Daytime team and were not provided with, and did not find any evidence of, a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour.
“Given the ongoing rumours, we continued to ask questions of both parties, who both continued to deny the rumours, including as recently as this month.”
Dame Carolyn also revealed that ITV has offered support to the former employee whom Schofield had an affair with.
She says: “The ITV employee was aged 19 when he first did work experience at ‘This Morning’ in 2015 and 20 years old when he applied and succeeded in securing a job as a runner on the show.
“He subsequently applied for and was successful in securing a promotion to ‘Loose Women’ in 2019. He left ITV in 2021.”
Amid the scandal, Dame Carolyn has also insisted that ITV takes its responsibility surrounding duty of care “seriously ” and allows anyone to “raise concerns” anonymously.
She said in a statement: “I want to reassure you that as a producer and broadcaster, ITV takes its responsibilities around duty of care and speaking up seriously and has robust and well-established processes in place which allow anyone who works with us to raise concerns they may have anonymously.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Channel 4 is reportedly ditching the civilian version of ‘SAS: Who Dares Wins’.
The original version of the military training show with members of the public taking part is to end after eight series, according to The Sun.
The celebrity version is still expected to continue.
It comes after the show’s former Chief Instructor Ant Middleton was sacked from the show last year, due to his “personal conduct”.
Ant previously admitted ‘Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins’ is “a lot softer” since he left.
The 42-year-old army veteran doesn’t tune in to watch his replacement Rudy Reyes on the star-studded Channel 4 military endurance show – which has featured the likes of Katie Price, Ulrika Jonsson, Calum Best and Pete Wicks – after the 51-year-old former Marine claimed he was a “misogynist”.
Ant told The Sun newspaper: “’SAS’ is a lot softer now. I don’t watch it.
“A lot of celebrities ring me and tell me they’ve been asked to do the show but won’t, partly out of loyalty to me and partly because they say, ‘What would I get out of it? It’s gone soft.’ ”
Responding to Rudy’s allegations he had a problem with women, Ant denied it, citing his wife as a reference.
Ant said: “I can accept some things people say about me but I am not misogynistic. My wife was like, ‘If anyone spent five minutes with you, they would know that’s absolutely not right, as you never treat anyone with disrespect.’
“I don’t know Rudy, so I don’t dislike him and I don’t like him, but I know to steer clear of him now because of that unfortunate article.”
‘The Wall’ author – who was involved in the show when it began with a civilian edition in 2015 – admitted he was “really shocked” bosses maintained the name, while he also questioned Rudy’s credentials.
Ant said: “I’m really shocked they can still call it ‘SAS: Who Dares Wins’ because the chief instructor is an ex-marine. They are not tier-one Special Forces — they haven’t got that training or mindset that we have.
“My Twitter explodes on a Sunday night when the show is on. I get tweets saying, ‘Ant, when are you going to be back?’ It’s overwhelming.
“People think you can just put another person in front of the camera, but it’s really hard to deliver and come across as authentic. There’s only one Ant Middleton.”
This came after Rudy slammed Ant – who has railed against the “cancel culture” that led him to be removed by the network – labelling him “immature” and “narcissistic”.
Of his predecessor, he said: “He’s very immature, he’s a very immature person.
“It’s obvious how narcissistic he is. And of course, you know what, if he was ever face to face with me he wouldn’t say a thing. He’d have no chance against me.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Tasha Ghouri did not get “massive support” as a deaf schoolchild.
The 23-year-old reality star made history as the first deaf contestant to take part in ITV2 dating series ‘Love Island’ last year but revealed that she struggled in school because of the lack of awareness in the education system for those who are hard of hearing.
Speaking on ITV1’s ‘Good Morning Britain’, she said: “The journey has not been easy, it has definitely been a very long journey and I’ve been lucky enough to have great support around me, I had speech therapy, audiologist, the hospital was really supportive of me. But especially in school, I didn’t really have that massive support. I did have a notetaker if I needed one but I think sometimes forget to face you – I lip read – but they turn around to the whiteboard and I would miss out on what is being said and that’s what is happening right now with deaf children in schools. My journey has been up and down but that’s how it is in life and I overcame those obstacles.
“Even to this day, I struggle with my speech a little bit but it just comes with being deaf basically. Everyone’s experiences are so different being deaf. People have cochlea implants, people have hearing aids, some people are just deaf. The deaf community is so big, I don’t think people understand just how big it is really.
The dancer has now teamed up with the National Deaf Children’s Society and after hearing the statistic that two thirds of deaf children are falling behind in school due to the lack of support, explained that kids need support “from the start” for the the sake of their development.
She added: “If I’m honest, that [statistic] doesn’t really surprise me. The deaf community is so overlooked in terms of ‘It’s okay, leave them to it and they’ll be fine’. But it’s a shame because not many people are deaf aware and in school that needs to happen more, teachers and students need to understand what we go through every day. And you have to start it from young.
“I got my cochlea implant when I was five years old which is quite late on and I had to catch up so quickly and my speech came so much later than everyone else. Kids need this support from the start start. I think a lot of people don’t know where to go which is why me and the National Deaf Children’s Society are coming together to provide that help. You can find that help, you’re not alone.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Jane McDonald is set to replace Phillip Schofield as host of the British Soap Awards.
The 61-year-old star sensationally stepped down from his long-running role as a presenter on ITV’1s ‘This Morning’ last week amid rumours of a fall-out with co-star Holly Willoughby before admitting that he had had an “unwise but not illegal” extramarital affair with a younger male colleague but was still due to host the annual awards ceremony.
However, Phillip later quit ITV altogether, and now ‘Loose Women’ legend Jane – who spent almost a decade on the panel of ITV’s lunchtime chat show in the years after she found fame as a cruise ship singer in the late 1990s and has since fronted a slew of travel documentaries for Channel 5 – will be taking on hosting duties instead when the ceremony takes place on Saturday 3 June at The Lowry in Salford.
She wrote on Instagram: “I’m so excited to be this years host for The British Soap Awards!! Everyone knows how much I LOVE my soaps, this year I’ve been honoured to be mentioned in Corrie, EastEnders and Emmerdale so this is just a dream come true.”
“I can’t wait to see all our wonderful soap nominees and celebrate all their hard work with them – roll on the awards, I can’t wait.”
The British Soap Awards have now removed any mention of the former ‘Dancing on Ice’ host – who has presented the awards ceremony every year since 2006 – from their website and the news comes just hours after it was revealed that ITV has hired a top lawyer to review the company’s handling of the scandal.
Jane Mulcahy KC has been hired by the broadcaster to carry out an external review of the scandal, which led to Schofield’s exit from ‘This Morning’ after more than two decades on the show.
Dame Carolyn McCall, the chief executive of ITV, says in a letter to Ofcom: “ITV spoke to a number of people who worked on the ‘This Morning’ and wider Daytime team and were not provided with, and did not find any evidence of, a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour.
“Given the ongoing rumours, we continued to ask questions of both parties, who both continued to deny the rumours, including as recently as this month.”
Dame Carolyn also revealed that ITV has offered support to the former employee whom Schofield had an affair with.
She says: “The ITV employee was aged 19 when he first did work experience at ‘This Morning’ in 2015 and 20 years old when he applied and succeeded in securing a job as a runner on the show.
“He subsequently applied for and was successful in securing a promotion to ‘Loose Women’ in 2019. He left ITV in 2021.
“As you would imagine given the social media scrutiny of him, we have offered him our support throughout this period and indeed are still doing so.
“The employee has made it clear that he does not wish to be named or identified in connection with this matter. We would be grateful if you would be mindful of this.
“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.”
ITV has now turned to a legal expert in a bid to “establish the facts”.

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Elle Mulvaney is “so pleased about the conservations” about consent inspired by her character’s rape in ‘Coronation Street’.
The 20-year-old actress has played Amy Barlow on the ITV1 soap opera since 2010 and thinks that the online reaction to the storyline has “been insane” with many people have shared their similar experiences with her.
She told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “I am so pleased conversations have started to happen since this story first aired.
“The response on social media has been insane and a lot of people have confided in me.
“They have come forward about their own experiences, saying, ‘This has happened to me too,’ and I’ve been really touched they have. At the same time, I find it horrifying it is so common.
“Mums have told me it has made them want to have a conversation with their son about consent.
“The more teenagers that know about this, the less it is likely to happen.”
Elle – who worked wth the Schools Consent Project on the plot point – believes the problems with having open discussions about sexual assault lies the “stigma” that surrounds opening up.
She said: “It’s the stigma of, ‘Oh gosh, I can’t say anything, it’s too formal’. It isn’t too formal and we should all openly talk about consent.
“Within my own friendship group, nobody is afraid to have those ­conversations about sexual consent.
Elle – who has been appearing on the cobbles since she was seven years old- confessed that her family ensure she stays “grounded”.
She said: “My parents are very quick to keep me on a level playing field
“They’re proud but keep me grounded, and no, they ­definitely wouldn’t let me get too above myself!
“When people say, ‘Thirteen years in Corrie’, you go, ‘Wow’. But then you go, ‘I’ve aged so much!’”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Amber Gill wants the girls on ‘Love Island’ to be more opinionated.
The 25-year-old reality star won the ITV2 dating competition after winning over viewers when she was unafraid to speak her mind – but she wasn’t the only “amazing” mouthy lady in that series as she was joined by Maura Higgins, 32, and Molly-Mae Hague, 24 in 2019- and wants the ladies on the upcoming series to do the same as she spills how produced the show is.
She told the Daily Star newspaper: “All the girls in that series were amazing and we haven’t really seen that since.
“It’s not scripted or set up – everything happened naturally. But people forget it’s a TV show so there’s an element of production for it to make sense.
“I’m not an actor and could not do that on screen. If someone’s having a massive argument, they’ll say, ‘Can you speak about that later?’ but it’s all for the viewing experience. Every reality show will have an element of it but the villa I was in was not set up.”
The former ‘Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins’ content also admitted she was “excited” for the contestants on the new series- which begins on 5 June – as it is a one-in-a-lifetime experience.
She said: “I’m from Newcastle so I’m robust. I was so young at the time but I feel excited for people going in this summer.
“It’s so fun – and whenever you are going to get the chance to be chilling in the sun every day with no stress and bills?”
The ‘Celebability’ star – who has been romantically linked to Arsneal Women’s footballer Jennifer Beatie – urged the importance getting future Islanders ready for the toil of the show as they are not around “family and friends” to keep you in check.
Amber said: “It’s important to have those conversations to prepare people because you’re not not around family and friends, so not noticing things you many have normally.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Colin Salmon is “exhausted” after joining ‘EastEnders’.
The 61-year-old actor is known for playing Charles Robinson in three ‘James Bond’ films but has now swapped Hollywood for the small screen after joining the cast of BBC One soap opera ‘EastEnders’ as George Knight and admitted it came as a shock just how intense filming can be.
Speaking on ITV1’s ‘Good Morning Britain’, he said: “It’s been thrilling, exhausting and incredibly nourishing but I’m enjoying the ensemble, it’s fun, it’s great fun. I think it’s really important that one steps out of one’s comfort zone and going onto this is definitely not comfortable. In the first week, I got two scripts with a couple of days off but then on the Thursday, four more arrived and you’re shooting two or three episodes at a time. It’s hard work. I’ve walked in all sorts of realms and this is tough, it’s hard work. But also, it’s really, really exciting because you have to hit the road and there’s a certain element of spontaneity about it because it’s multi-camera because you’ve got to be in the zone all the time. Sometimes actors can relax when it’s not their shot, which I don’t agree with it. So this feels like a good home for me.”
The ‘High Chicago’ star has arrived in Albert Square as the new owner of the Queen Victoria pub alongside his partner Elaine Peacock (Harriet Thorpe) – who is the mother of established character Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) – and went on to add that shooting so much in the soap’s most famous location is “great” before noting that it was “daunting” to work on set of the first time.
“It’s a great place to be because you’re in the hub of it, so much goes on there so you’re privy to all the different storylines and where they’re at. Steve McFadden told me that I would be working hard and I’m like ‘Bring it.’ My grandad used to run a brewery, I never really thought about it because I was so young when I lived with him and I used to run a bar in Luton.”
“It was a bit daunting actually because one of my first scenes was a speech to a lot of the cast. But they were looking at me with open hearts.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Ben Elton is “not even remotely planning” anything for the 40th anniversary of ‘Blackadder’.
The 64-year-old comedian wrote the classic BBC sitcom with Richard Curtis has no plans to mark the show’s 1983 debut although he still sees the cast like Hugh Laurie, Rowan Atkinson and Stephen Fry as they are “still really close friends”.
He told Metro newspaper’s Sixty Seconds column: “No, not even remotely, but I see them. I had dinner with Hugh and his beautiful wife Jo a few days ago. We’re all still really close friends. It was quite tough at the time, it wasn’t always a lovefest; we were all friends, but much younger and a bit chippier. But now I think we can all sit back and say, ‘We had a hit with that, didn’t we?’”
Meanwhile, Ben called last year’s one-off revival of ‘Friday Night Live’ – which began life as ‘Saturday Live’ in the 80s – “one of the best nights of” his professional life after he reflected on its legacy on the UK comedy scene.
He said: “It was one of the best nights of my career. I loved every second of it. When we started doing ‘Saturday Live’ in 1986. I reckon there were three regular comedy clubs in London, and everywhere else in the country, not one. But by the time we finished in 1989, every time in the country had a pub with a regular comedy night, and big cities had their own designated comedy club. We did that, and Channel 4 did that.”
The ‘Upstart Crow’ star admitted he was “begging” Channel 4 to bring back the comedy show permanently.
Ben said: “If you’d call me being outside the offices of Channel 4 on my knees begging ‘discussions’ on my knees then yes, we’ve had ‘discussions’. I’ve made it clear I’m super available. I think they’re thinking about it. So if you’ve got any influence at all…”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Amber Gill doesn’t want to see a gay version of ‘Love Island’.
The 25-year-old reality star won the hit ITV2 dating show in 2019 with then-boyfriend Greg O’Shea and is now in a relationship with footballer Jen Beattie but explained that ahead of the launch of the new series on June 2 because it would be “too hard” to cast.
Asked if she wanted to see any changes to the format of the show, she told RadioTimes.com: “Not anything in particular for me. I know there’s a lot of people that say they would like to see a sort of LGBTQ+ Love Island. I think it would be hard to cast for something like that. I think that it’s hard in itself to cast it now and I think adding that in would make it even harder.”
The former ‘Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins’ contestant went on to add that the concept of a gay dating programme could be a “possibility” but thinks that it would end up becoming an entity completely different to ‘Love Island.’
She added: “I think it is a possibility, but I think if that was a show, it should be a different show altogether because then I think it makes it so different from what it is.”
In 2021, ITV’s commissioner Amanda Stavri claimed that the inclusion of gay contestants would prove to be a “logistical difficulty.”
She said: “In terms of gay Islanders, I think the main challenge is regarding the format of Love Island. There’s a sort of logistical difficulty, because although Islanders don’t have to be 100 per cent straight, the format must sort of give [the] Islanders an equal choice when coupling up.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Alan Carr “got choked up” when he saw Oliver Savell’s audition tape for ‘Changing Ends’.
The 46-year-old comedian has written and stars in the semi-autobiographical sitcom that charts his rise from bullied kid to renowned television star and received more than 450 tapes from young actors wanting to play him in the series and recalled noting that there was “something there” when he saw the audition tape of the series’ young star.
Speaking on ITV’s ‘Lorraine’, he told showbiz reporter Ria Hebden: “I’m filming a sitcom based on my life. We’ve done my home life, we’ve done the school and now we are here. This looks just like the Country Ground. I spent every Saturday here watching my dad up the cobblers. My childhood was really funny and it was bittersweet, the show is warm, it’s funny and the boy playing me, Olly [Savell], is such a talent. We searched everywhere for little Alan and I got over 450 tapes from people thinking they could play me as a kid. Some of them were so heartwarming, some of them were just downright offensive but Olly sent his tape in and there was something there. I got choked up watching it, I hope people laugh, I hope people have a cry.”
The former ‘Chatty Man’ star is also known for his close friendship with singing superstar Adele and went on to joke that it would be amazing if she could sing the theme tune and joked that if the show became as successful as ‘The Crown’, he could well be played by Olivia Colman, who starred as the late Queen Elizabeth in the hit Netflix drama.
He added: “If [Adele] sang the theme tune! ‘Changing ends…’ You never know, it might be as big as ‘The Crown’, Olivia Colman might play me in the next series!”
‘Changing Ends’ is available to stream on ITVX from 1 June.

Source: VacationHunter.Online