Phillip Schofield has resigned from ITV after admitting he lied about a relationship he had with “a younger male colleague” at This Morning.

The veteran TV presenter (61) announced he was stepping down from presenting the ITV talk show with “immediate effect” over last weekend, while it was announced his co-presenter Holly Willoughby will remain on the show, but is taking early half-term holiday leave.

Alison Hammond and Craig Doyle stepped in to present This Morning on Wednesday, after Hammond and Dermot O’Leary filled in for the first two days since Schofield’s departure last week.

In a statement released through the Daily Mail, the presenter apologised for lying about the relationship.

“The first thing I want to say is: I am deeply sorry for having lied to them (the Daily Mail), and to many others about a relationship that I had with someone working on This Morning,” he said.

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

He added that “contrary to speculation” the relationship was “not illegal”.

He said: “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.

“That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over.”

The presenter added: “I am painfully conscious that I have lied to my employers at ITV, to my colleagues and friends, to my agents, to the media and therefore the public, and most importantly of all to my family.

“I am so very, very sorry, as I am for having been unfaithful to my wife.”