Holly Willoughby has said it has been "very hurtful" to discover her former co-host Phillip Schofield lied about his affair with a younger colleague.
On Friday, Schofield confirmed he had lied about a relationship he had with a young male ITV employee.
In a statement, Willoughby said: "When reports of this relationship first surfaced, I asked Phil directly if this was true and was told it was not.
"It's been very hurtful to now find out that this was a lie."
Writing on Instagram, Willoughby added it had "taken time to process yesterday's news".
The pair presented ITV's This Morning together for 14 years until Schofield's exit last week.
Schofield quit ITV on Friday after admitting to the affair, which he described as "unwise, but not illegal".
Some former ITV daytime figures, such as Eamonn Holmes and Dan Wootton, said the revelations raised questions about how much the network's managers knew about the affair.
Earlier on Saturday, ITV said it had investigated rumours of a relationship between Schofield and a younger employee in 2020 - but both “repeatedly denied" it.
An ITV spokesman said: "Further to our statement last night, ITV can confirm that when rumours of a relationship between Phillip Schofield and an employee of ITV first began to circulate in early 2020, ITV investigated.
"Both parties were questioned and both categorically and repeatedly denied the rumours, as did Phillip's then agency YMU.
"In addition, ITV spoke to a number of people who worked on This Morning and were not provided with, and did not find, any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour.
"Phillip's statement yesterday reveals that he lied to people at ITV, from senior management to fellow presenters, to YMU, to the media and to others over this relationship."
Schofield released a statement to the Daily Mail on Friday, saying: "I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning."
He was still married to his wife Stephanie Lowe at the time of the affair. They separated in 2020, after he came out as gay.
Schofield said he was "so, very, very sorry" for being unfaithful to his wife, and for lying to his colleagues, agents, employers, friends, the media, the public and his family about the relationship.
He continued: "Contrary to speculation, whilst I met the man when he was a teenager and was asked to help him to get into television, it was only after he started to work on the show that it became more than just a friendship."
He also said he would "reflect on my very bad judgement in both participating in the relationship and then lying about it".
It followed rumours circulating on social media over several months about Schofield's personal relationships.
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from Via PakapNews