Phillip Schofield paid his young lover a six-figure sum with a nauseating clause. “The disgraced This Morning host says he knows his ex-girlfriend can never talk about their relationship… so he can sleep much better.”

Disgraced Phillip Schofield paid his much younger girlfriend a six-figure sum in a deal to keep him from talking about their relationship, the Mail on Sunday can reveal. Ta.

The star's former colleague, who is 34 years his junior, signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) in exchange for compensation allowing him to speak out about the scandal that brought the host's decades-long TV career to an ignominious end last year. prevented.

Mr Schofield, 61, has been in the wilderness since last May, when he admitted to the Mail newspaper that he had an affair and took on the unusual burden of lying to his ITV employers.

Lawyers representing the former This Morning host have confirmed a deal was signed with his ex-girlfriend last year that included a “mutual confidentiality clause” and a payment to compensate the man for losses he suffered.

The man was only 15 years old when he met Schofield. Thanks to Schofield, he landed a coveted job as a runner on This Morning at the age of 19.

Their romantic relationship began when the man was 20 years old, after which he moved on to another ITV daytime show, Loose Women. He then received another payment and left the channel.

Despite this clause preventing both parties from talking about the affair, Schofield revealed intimate details of their relationship when interviewed by the BBC's Amol Rajan in June last year. .

A source familiar with the NDA told the Mail on Sunday: “This young man has been frail for some time. It's no secret.

“Following Philip's decision to speak out about his relationship, payments were made for a variety of issues and an NDA was arranged and signed as part of this.”

“This means Phil will probably sleep better at night now because he knows his younger ex-boyfriend won't be able to talk about their relationship.”

“He's lost a lot, but imagine if the details were revealed. It would be quite a disaster for him.”

“As for this young man, let's hope he can now move on with his life and rebuild, but it won't be easy.

“And it's a bit extravagant for Phil to offer a non-disclosure agreement after consulting with the BBC last year.”

The man, whom ITV referred to only as Person X during the investigation, was represented by top London law firm Mishcon de Reya in negotiations over the NDA.

In an interview with the BBC, Schofield claimed that he had not groomed the young man after meeting him at a stage school.

“I'm completely devastated and embarrassed,” he confessed, adding: “We were mates and then something happened in my dressing room one day. Obviously I'll regret it forever, both for him and for me, but mainly for him. But it happened.''It's probably going to be his fourth time or his fifth time in the next few months.

“I know it's not acceptable. But we weren't boyfriends. We weren't dating. I was really confused about my sexuality at the time, and it just happened to be that way.” It is.”

Schofield also said the man earned the role on the morning “on his own merit…because he was very good at his job.” Additionally, “everyone loved him. He worked very hard.”

The former Dancing on Ice presenter took part in the interview after confessing that he had been having an affair behind his wife Stephanie Rowe's back.

In a bombshell statement to the Daily Mail, Schofield confessed to lying to colleagues, friends and agents at his management company, YMU, and said the relationship was “unwise but not illegal”.

In a statement, he said: “I am making this statement through the Daily Mail and have been misled through my lawyer, who also misled me, about the article he wanted to write about me a few days ago.'' I have already personally apologized for this.” .

“The first thing I want to say is that I deeply regret lying to them and many others about my relationship with someone who works on This Morning.”

“I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning.

“Contrary to speculation, I met this guy when he was a teenager and he asked me to help him get on TV, but it became more than just a friendship because he was on the show… It was after I started working there.

“That relationship was unwise, but it wasn't illegal. It's over.”

The youngster, now 27, declined to comment on the deal or the details of its contents.