Phillip Schofield

[maryportfuncity 10,657]

5 hours ago, Sean said:

Caroline Flack was 33 when she dated a 17 year old Harry Styles also and no one said anything.

 

 

Syles made quite a few noises of contentment, I think! So he kinda said something.

[maryportfuncity 10,657]

Fookin' tart - he'll be back, or he'll simply mainatain his profile by discussing the fact he can't maintain his profile, of summat.

 

 

[Windsor 2,233]

14 hours ago, Perhaps said:

 
Liam Payne went on the X Factor when he was 14 as a contestant, he didn’t get through and Cheryl was a judge both times he auditioned (the second time he got through). They started dating when he was huge in One Direction in his 20’s. 

 

Would it kill you to add context?

she still had a position of trust over him in my opinion. 

[maryportfuncity 10,657]

1 hour ago, Windsor said:

she still had a position of trust over him in my opinion. 

 

 

Dunno, never saw the action shots!

[msc 18,480]

8 hours ago, Clorox Bleachman said:

You always chime in when there's a discussion about age-gap relationships or grooming. The biggest thing is context.

 

Age gaps are common in my bloodline but we seem to start families when we're ancient. A better example would be 2 of my former managers (40M and 22F), who started dating and are still together. They both earned the same salary and had nothing to gain from being with the other person. The bigger problem was that he cheated on his weans' mother. They're perfect for each other and that's not a compliment.

 

A situation involving a millionaire celebrity and a young person with few connections is not comparable. If you're starting out in the industry and Phillip Schofield could potentially influence your whole career, he could get away with a lot of fuckshit in the name of helping you out. It appears he did, and it was never a level playing field.

 

Is it not easier to simply pursue someone who you haven't known from a very young age? Same goes for second cousins. It's not illegal but... so many other people to choose from, no?

 

I think this story is a big overblown distraction though. It's not that serious to people outwith the ITV circle.

Context as you say is key. Especially in power dynamics. There's a difference imo between Vince McMahon the sleazy old man who sleeps with interns and Vince McMahon who threats unemployment and forces people to sign ndas over his "flings". The latter involves forcing the imbalance for sexual gratification. There's no middle ground on the internet (Clinton and Trump aren't that comparable as much as David Lee Travis and Jimmy Savile shouldn't be, which isn't to say Clinton and Travis should be let off for dodgy behaviour) between ethically unwise, legally dodgy and internet rumours mills exaggerating everything so it sounds exactly like something that happened to you or a loved one. So I can understand older folk being WTF tbh.

 

After all in my teens I had a short term fling with a woman in her thirties. I regret nothing but I will say my age immaturity is a main reason it was a short one!

 

But these caveats are important because they don't appear to apply to Phillip Schofield here. It's not just that he knew the boy from a very early age, and that as a child fan meeting one of the biggest names on UK TV that power dynamic is fucked especially when Schofield is responsible for the chaps career. But if Schofield is correct that it ended his marriage then the lad was seventeen or eighteen at the time AT MOST. So hes, even in the best possible explanation of events, on really worrisome ground. 

 

And the reason the press keep focusing on it is because people are unsure just how dodgy that ground is. Even in a pre Savile pre Twitter environment his career would be fucked.

[j0neseur0 118]

8 hours ago, Sean said:

Caroline Flack was 33 when she dated a 17 year old Harry Styles also and no one said anything.

 

Yes they did 

[Toast 16,155]

9 hours ago, Clorox Bleachman said:

Is it not easier to simply pursue someone who you haven't known from a very young age? Same goes for second cousins. It's not illegal but... so many other people to choose from, no?

 

Pursue?

People fall in love, or grow to love someone.  Even when it's just a fling, why not if both parties are up for it?

[ladyfiona 2,594]

9 hours ago, Sean said:

Caroline Flack was 33 when she dated a 17 year old Harry Styles also and no one said anything.

 

Like with Taylor Swift, Harry Styles and Cheryl Cole/Fernandez - they are all PR whores and half their relationships are/were fake. I'm pretty sure Harry is queer and so has PR girlfriends. I dare not mention it on social media because Harry Styles fans are crazy. With Taylor Swift she is always being shipped with women. Dianna Agron is one of them and their ship name from fans is Swiftgron.

[The Watcher 319]

13 hours ago, Slackhurst Broadcasting said:

I once heard that Grant Bovey's wife, who he ditched to go off with Anthea Turner, had been telling people at a party that Anthea was a hermaphrodite.

Well she was an expert on Tracey Island!

[Youth in Asia 1,087]

19 hours ago, DCI Frank Burnside said:

 

 

Utter bollox. If the female had also been 15 when the originally met and like in this case nothing seemingly happend for another few years it absolutely still would have been a big scandal

That's basically what happened with Rolf Harris isn't it?

[Spade_Cooley 9,540]

Popbitch email this week seems to be subtly implying that Eamonn Holmes is throwing a large number of boulders in his glass abode. What a shame it'd be if his career collapsed as well.

[YoungWillz 21,066]

I've resisted sticking my oar into this conversation so far - people will have differing views on this and in that respect, I am no different. (Ha ha, that's got to be a figure of speech I can' remember the name of, I'm sure!).

 

Again, there is zero evidence so far that anything took place while one party was under the age of consent.

 

Grooming allegations - I've seen nothing at all and I'm not aware of any reputable news source publishing any exchange of messages which would indicate this or challenge Schofield's version.

 

There does seem to be some evidence that the other person was vulnerable - whether the full story of that relates to money, sexuality or mental health issues we may never know, but whether that would be enough to displace full consent is very debateable. There are plenty of people in adult relationships where one party may be described as more vulnerable than another.

 

So now we turn to speculation. Something not discussed is whether the other party maybe had a crush on Schofield from a younger age. He requests help from his hero to get into TV, that happens and suddenly he is in close contact with the object of his younger affections. It's possible. And before you accuse me of victim blaming, I see no evidence that the other party has claimed they were a victim in the relationship.

 

Without that, we then speculate there was a power dynamic. Once again, no evidence so far that Schofield used his position to exploit the other party, or threatened him with dismissal or consequences. Workplace shit happens. If the lad had been doing Alison Hammond or Holly Willoughby up the chuff, I remain of the view that this would not be a big deal.

 

What the lad wasn't prepared for was the press taking an interest in Schofield cheating on his wife, and TV personalities manoeuvring their uncomfortable nature of what seems to have been the subject of gossip for their own ends. ITV's cover-up of the whole thing has been an absolute shambles.

 

Now that doesn't mean I'm entirely on Schofield's side here. It seems clear he felt untouchable, the star feted over many years who really didn't care about his colleagues or indeed his guests - helped by ITV it seems who saw him and Willoughby as their revenue-spinners. Therefore I am of the view that rather than focus on the relationship, it's whether these stars of the show would be protected, they knew they would be and that complaints about them would be ignored. That's the real story here. Imo.

[Slackhurst Broadcasting 374]

The presenters of these shows all seem to be horrible people who hate each other. It sits oddly with the shows' intended image:

 

 

[Toast 16,155]

1 hour ago, YoungWillz said:

Grooming allegations - I've seen nothing at all and I'm not aware of any reputable news source publishing any exchange of messages which would indicate this or challenge Schofield's version.

 

I agree with everything you've said.  I'm also quite mystified about how people define "grooming".  It seems that merely being in regular social contact leaves one open to this allegation. 

I've no doubt that my relative would have been condemned and  reviled by the internet police if their situation was happening today.  He and his future wife were in a teacher-pupil situation - NOT formal education but he was teaching her (unpaid) a skill which became a lifelong hobby and group activity.  I'll liken it to teaching her to play a musical instrument and then playing in a band together.   There was no "grooming" but I can well imagine he would be accused of that today.

[maryportfuncity 10,657]

1 hour ago, Slackhurst Broadcasting said:

The presenters of these shows all seem to be horrible people who hate each other. It sits oddly with the shows' intended image:

 

 

 

 

Aye, a rough guess here but...

 

Basically, most of the presenters are people hungry for fame and possessed of no appreciable talents other than passing themselves off presentably as nice people. So, they're also prone to sharing constant fear of losing what they have and - therefore - suspicion and envy are near permanent states in their collective minds. Oddly, it makes someone like Gary Lineker - who is clearly intelligent, opinionated and quite able in a business sense - as an outlier in this company. Don't think he'll soon be considering topping himself after grooming someone in the backroom.

[Slackhurst Broadcasting 374]

Gary Lineker was also a top footballer, which goes with the point about others not having evident talents.

[lilham 757]

22 hours ago, Cerberus said:

Didn't Celine Dion meet her future husband when she was only 12 or 13? 

Yeah, and now Celine has a debilitating condition that may be caused by extreme stress. While I know she loved her family, I don't think her having to carry financial burden for all 16 of them was a good thing either.

Now with a lot of them dead, it seems to have taken a toll on her body.
I'm a fan of hers, but was never a fan of this "love story."

[DCI Frank Burnside 3,887]

4 hours ago, Slackhurst Broadcasting said:

Gary Lineker was also a top footballer, which goes with the point about others not having evident talents.

Reminded of this

[Sean 6,337]

8 hours ago, j0neseur0 said:

 

Yes they did 

Was all tongue in cheek though and her career didn`t suffer at all. Schofield on the other hand has lost his career and is now a national pariah and folk devil.

[lilham 757]

3 minutes ago, Sean said:

Was all tongue in cheek though and her career didn`t suffer at all. Schofield on the other hand has lost his career and is now a national pariah and folk devil.

She committed suicide. While I know the final act was not related to Harry, I have heard she had attempted multiple times. It's possible that one of the other times was related to that. Certainly bad press played a hand?

[Sean 6,337]

5 minutes ago, lilham said:

She committed suicide. While I know the final act was not related to Harry, I have heard she had attempted multiple times. It's possible that one of the other times was related to that. Certainly bad press played a hand?

The press definitely played a role in her death but I don`t think it was related to that at all. Most of her early suicide attempts according to the documentary about her where to do with her personal life. She got hurt easily and struggled with emotions then when you combined relationship troubles with the media turning on you like a pack of hyenas in her case that was a perfect storm for tragedy.

[The Watcher 319]

1 hour ago, Sean said:

The press definitely played a role in her death but I don`t think it was related to that at all. Most of her early suicide attempts according to the documentary about her where to do with her personal life. She got hurt easily and struggled with emotions then when you combined relationship troubles with the media turning on you like a pack of hyenas in her case that was a perfect storm for tragedy.

 

1 hour ago, Sean said:

The press definitely played a role in her death but I don`t think it was related to that at all. Most of her early suicide attempts according to the documentary about her where to do with her personal life. She got hurt easily and struggled with emotions then when you combined relationship troubles with the media turning on you like a pack of hyenas in her case that was a perfect storm for tragedy.

She was mocked by Gwhich ham Norton in public which a documentary some months ago stated affected her badly. Lorraine Kelly made an insensitive comment about her which was also reported in the documentary and it was actually shown. Eamonn Holmes appears to be settling past grievances and wounding with words in a different way to Norton & Kelly but probably in just a hurtful way and unlike the other two presenters is doing it for malicious reasons.

[Youth in Asia 1,087]

Any idea why Schofield's young chap cannot be named by the papers? He's an adult, there's no criminal prosecution, and his identity is not exactly a secret.

[Bibliogryphon 9,588]

Even my fairly homophobic father-in-law (he still uses the term puffter in a derogatory sense) recognises that the media frenzy around Schofield seems excessive considering the actual facts that are in the public domain at the moment and expressed sympathy for him.

[harrymcnallysblueandwhitearmy 1,689]

7 hours ago, Youth in Asia said:

Any idea why Schofield's young chap cannot be named by the papers? He's an adult, there's no criminal prosecution, and his identity is not exactly a secret.

I have no Matthew McGreevy idea why the ex-ITV runner Matthew McGreevy cannot be Matthew McGreevy named by the gutter press Matthew McGreevy. If his LinkedIn is to be believed, he's out of the frying pan and into the fucking kitchen fire.