In her first appearance on the This Morning couch in weeks, Hollie Willoughby has expressed her sadness and upset at the growing scandal surrounding Philip Schofield, which forced his exit from all ITV projects and caused him to be dropped by his management company.

The scandal, which centers on Philip’s “unwise but not illegal” relationship with a younger male staffer on This Morning, grew from tabloid reports of a rift between Hollie and Phil, which were made worse by an apparent lack of communication between Phil, ITV and Hollie around the time of Phil’s brother’s sentencing for sex crimes. Reports emerged around this time that Phil was difficult to work with on This Morning, and that the entire production was unhappy and toxic.

Addressing the story publicly for the first time, Willoughby said: “You, me, and all of us at This Morning gave our love and support to someone who was not telling the truth, who acted in a way that they themselves felt that they had to resign from ITV, and step down from a career that they loved. That is a lot to process.

“And it’s equally hard to see the toll that it’s taken on their own mental health. I think what unites us all now is a desire to heal for the health and well-being of everyone.”

In an interview with the BBC’s Amol Rajan last week, Phil described having “lost everything”, saying:

“If you don’t think that that is going to have the most catastrophic effect on someone’s mind… do want me to die? Because that’s where I am.

“It is relentless, and it is day after day, after day after day.”

Phil also blamed homophobia for the bulk of the abuse and attention that his affair has recieved.

“If it was a heterosexual relationship it would be a nudge nudge wink wink”, he told the BBC.

“If it’s a gay relationship then suddenly it raises eyebrows – it’s wrong.